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LIBlilY. 

Copyrighted, 1881, by Farm and Fireside Co. 




Number 10. 



Price 25 Cents. 



JNoble andMeroicDeeds 



MEN AND WOMEN. 



EDITED AND COMPILED BY 

A. D. HOSTERMAN. 



PUBLISHED BY 

FARM AND FIRESIDE COMPANY, 

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 



Entered at the Post-Office at Springfield, Ohio, as Second-Class Mail Matter. 



►^^$. 



TO THE. SUBSCRIBERS OF 

Farm and Fireside Library Books. 



A WORD WITH YOU IN REGARD TO THE DELAY IN PUB- 
LISHING OUR LIBRARY BOOKS. 

We have been obliged to seek new and more commodious quarters to increase 
our facilities, as in our old quarters we did not have sufficient room for presses 
and machinery necessary to publish our books and paper rapidly enough to 
keep up with the demand, which was so much greater than we expected when 
we commenced to print them. 

After moving, we were delayed in getting folding machines and other 
machinery, for which we had given the manufacturers orders many months ago, 
as there has been an unlooked for boom among manufacturers of this class of 
goods. 

They wrote us that they were working day and night and could not keep up 
with orders. We offered them PROMPT CASH, EXTRA PRICE, and other induce- 
ments; but the manufacturers wrote they could not obtain material and could 
give us no encouragement. They promised us machines two months ago, which 
have not yet been received; and other circumstances have so arranged them- 
selves that we cannot publish our books as rapidly as we wish. As soon as we 
get fairly started in our new quarters our books will be pushed rapidly forward 
and mailed to our subscribers promptly as intended, as we have no desire to 
swindle any one, as some have charged. 

We trust you will appreciate our position, and credit us with honesty of 
purpose. 

Yours respectfully. 

P. P. MAST & CO., 

PUBLISHERS OF FARM AND FIRESIDE. 



Noble and Heroic Deeds 



OF 



MEN AND WOMEN 



ILLUSTRATED 



With Ntjmerons Engravings, and Interspersed with Anecdotes, 

Incidents, and Sketches from the Lives of the Great 

and Good, Illustrative of Noble and Heroic 

Traits of Character. 



EDITBO^AND COMPILED BY 
A. D. HOSTERMAN. 



COPYRIGHTED BY J, S. CTvOWELL, l-l. 



PUBLISHED BY 

FARM AND FIRESIDE, 

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. 
1881. 




Major McCulloch's Daring Leap.— Page ' 
[2] 



THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

George Washington 9 

John Eliot 11 

John Winthrop 12 

Anne Letiti.i Barbauld 12 

William Penn 14 

John Laurens 15 

Joan of Arc 16 

Benjamin Rust 18 

Hannah Dustin 19 

Dixon H. Lewis 20 

A Girl's Heroism 20 

Samuel Kirkland 21 

James Milnor 21 

Zachary Taylor 22 

Anne Boleyn 23 

Reward of a Brave Deed 24 

Robert Morris 25 

John Edwards 26 

Phebe Abbot 27 

Benjamin Franklin 28 

Dav'd Glascoe Farragut 29 

A Benevolent Widow 30 

Stephen Van Rensselaer 31 

Abigail Adams 32 

James Edward Oglethorpe 34 

A Touching Scene 35 

A Heroine 36 

Pocahontas 37 

A Young Hero 38 

Catharine Brown 39 

A Plucky Captain 39 

Thomas Nelson, jr 40 

David Brainard 40 

Thomas Jefferson 41 

Margaret Prior 42 

James Madison 43 

A Touching Act 44 

Mrs. Fanny Ricketts 44 

Patrick Henry 46 

Humanity Rewarded 47 

Pi;oebe Phillips 47 

Janet McCrea 49 

[3] 



4 CONTENTS. 

Eli Whitney S 51 

Mrs. E. E. George 52 

William Barton , *..... 52 

The Mother of President Polk 53 

AmosOgden 54 

Thomas Williams , , J 54 

1 ' The Little Black-Eyed Rebel" 55 

Courage of a Country Girl 55 

Sterling's Bravery "... 56 

A Noble Exploit 57 

Kady Brownell .-. .*. 57 

A Devoted Lover 58 

Spirited Conduct of Mrs. Phelps 59 

Mrs. Isabella Fogg 59 

Andrew Jackson , 60 

Dewitt Clinton 60 

Joseph Warren 61 

Mrs. Thomas Heyward 61 

Mrs. Hetty M. McEweri 62 

An Instance of Self-Sacrifice 63 

Benjamin Pierce 63 

Brave Mrs. Hurd 64 

Joseph Reed 65 

Margaret E. Breckenridge 66 

Brave Boy Soldiers 66 

Mrs. Elida Rumsey Fowle 67 

Bravery of Miss Schwartz 68 

Thaddeus Kosciuszko 69. 

Mrs. Mary W. Lee 69 

Thomas Macdonough 70 

Nobility of Character 71 

Patriotic Devotion 71 

John Jacob Astor 72 

Mrs. John Harris 72 

Oliver Hazzard Perry 73 

Israel Putnam 74 

Mother Byckerdyke 75 

Mis. May Morris Husband. 75 

Major Samuel McCulloch 76 

A Boy's Bravery 77 

Miss Maria M. C. Hall 78 

Mrs. A. H. Hoge 79 

Mrs. Channing 80 

Anna Etheridge 80 

Mary Washington 81 

Martha Washington 82 

Heroism of the Misses Taylor 83 

Mrs. Richard Shubrick 83 

Nob e Act of two Tennessee Women 84 

A Brave Heroine 84 

Isabella Graham 85 

Paragon Bravery 86 

l5aring Intrepidity 87 

AnnH, Judson 87 



CONTENTS. 5 

PAGE. 

The Heroines of Bryant's Station .; 88 

11 1 can Fight with my Right Hand" 80 

Stephen Girard 89 

A Touching Incident of Bravery..... 90 

Richard M. Johnson 91 

Bravery at All Hazards 91 

Alexander Hamilton 92 

A Remarkable Woman 92 

An Act of True Heroism 93 

The Benevolent Countess 93 

Bravery of Mrs. Hendee '. 94 

The Boy Hero 94 

Brave Sergeant Ord 95 

An Undoubted Heroine 95 

A Girl's Cool Courage 96 

Sergeant Whaling 96 

A Hero Rewarded 97 

Characteristic Revolutionary Woman 97 

Bold Adventure of a Patriotic Girl 98 

Horace Greeley 99 

A Tiny Heroine 100 

A Brave Deed 100 

The Young Heroine of Fort Henry 101 

Captain Richard Gough .. 102 

A Patriotic Donation 102 

Heroic Boy 103 

Daring Exploit of " Two Rebels" 103 

A Rare Proof of Devotion 104 

A Kentucky Amazon „ 104 

Faraday, the Philosopher 107 

Noble Philanthropy 107 

Cornelia Beekman 108 

Heroism of Schoharie Women 109 

Patriotic Women of Old Middlesex 110 

Walter Powell, the Man of Business 110 

Remarkable Presence of Mind Ill 

Heroic Conduct at Monmouth Ill 

Dauntless John Jordan .113 

An Unselfish Act 113 

" Oh, What Will Mother Do?" 114 

Woman's Firmness 115 

Young Knightly Heroes 116 

Gould, the Hero of Corinth , 116 

Paul Revere 117 

The Heroine of Matagorda 118 

All a Mother Can Do 118 

Intrepedity of Mrs. Israel 1 119 

An Obscure Patriot 119 

Nothing Lost by True Courage 120 

Right Arm Still Left 121 

A Wounded Hero 121 

Tender Burial of a Union Drummer Boy by Two Girls 122 

Sentiments of a Dying Soldier 122 

A Typical American Hero — James A. Garfield 123 



PREFACE. 



There can be no doubt but that Biography and History have been of incalculable value to 
the world. Causes and their sequeDces, plans and their consummations, are followed ; and 
man is able to learn by precept rather than by the tedious routine of experience. But in 
nothing more than in the impetus given to follow worthy traits of character, to study beautiful 
examples of pure lives, and to imitate that which we admire, is Biography and History valuable. 
Youth follows the experience of age, and as the example set up for imitation is good or bad, 
will a new generation be. A prominent educator once said that if he had the children of any 
country from the time of their birth until they were seven years of age, after that any school of 
doctrines, any influences, might be thrown around them, and he could predict what they would 
become in morals when men. There is much of truth in this. Early influences and impressions 
are always lasting. The necessity, then, becomes imperative that we place before the youth of 
the land models of character, both noble and brave, if the best results are to be obtained, j o 
furnish such a coterie of incidents illustrative of noble and heroic traits of character, in which 
the youth as well as the aged might be interested, and hoping in this manner to be the means 
of doing much good, the publishers have been led to make such a compilation as the present 
volume. 

41 And by their light 
Shall every valiant youth with ardor move 
To do brave acts." —Shufcpeare. 

Agisilaus, King of Sparta, being asked, ""What ought children to learn?" replied, "That 
which they ought to practice when they become men." No sentiment was ever expressed 
more conformable to the principles of our government. Next to their duty toward God, 
there is not a parent who ought not to impress upon the minds of his children the devotion 
which is due their country; and how can this be more effectually done than from the dawu of 
reason to keep in their view those virtues which have raised the benefactors of the republic to 
immortality? 

" What is life?" has always been a perplexing inquiry. Every class of persons, if not in- 
deed every person, has a different— either a higher or a lower— view and standard. There is 
one thing certain, that the brave and noble are always remembered longer and better after 
death ; and few can deny but that this is one chief aim of life. Every man that is truly great, 
in whatever sphere of life he may act, has certain noble traits of character in the competition 
of his being. And— 

"Still to employ 

The mind's brave ardor in heroic aims, 

Such as ma 7 raise us o'er the groveling herd 

And make us shine forever— that is Lifk." 

The world is full of negative characters. The demand for men of thought and men of 

action -pure thought and brave action— constantly increases. The best illustration's of noble 

traits of character and heroic deeds have generally been during times of national peril, when 

the common pulse of a whole people has throbbed and beat quickly— when action was needed. 

ill 



8 PREFACE. 

In our own country the devolution and the Rebellion were the causes and the impetus to 
action. Not only men but women also responded. Willing to give up home, friends and 
family, to offer their energies and life blood, and the kindly ministerings of the women, com- 
mand at once our respect and admiration. And yet we need not always look to such thrilling 
times for our illustrations of noble traits of character. The widow with her mite, and the self- 
sacrificing, disinterested actions of those all about us, bespeak noble traits and examples 
worthy of imitation. 

We can best learn to hate cowardice and a groveling spirit by studying their opposites. 
Bravery and nobility of character have been honored and respected as long as man has 
existed. They are the cardinal virtues of true manhood or womanhood, and always com- 
mand respect. It is a sacred duty of every person to make his life as grand and noble 
as possible; and there can be no better, no surer manner of bringing this about than by 
instilling into the minds of the youth such examples as are grand and noble. To build a fine, 
abiding and beautiful architectural structure, in which proportion and grace are blended, the 
first thing that is done is to build well a good sub-structure, a foundation on which to rest. 
Just so in foiming a beautiful character. The first thing necessary is to have a pure mind, 
before which, as an entrancing mirror, are reflected the images and casts of noble deeds, 
heroic actions, and that nobility of character which is universally respected. The province 
of this volume is then seen. We are not pretentious enough to claim originality in the major- 
ity of the facts and incidents found in these pages. We have only aimed at an acceptable 
compilation, such as is found in no other work, and which the author and publishers believe 
will meet a demand long felt. We have had recourse to a large number of standard and 
antiquated works, from which we have drawn liberally. Many of the stories have been en- 
tirely rewritten and modernized. If it shall be the means of inspiring any youth to better 
and renewed exertions, or to spur any one to better efforts, the aim of the compilers will have 
been amply met To do good has been the motive in presenting this to the public, and should 
it fail in this it will fail utterly. The actions and deeds herein recorded are worthy of study 
and imitation by all. An ambition to be noble is laudable. u By a knowledge of the lives of 
the great, we can regulate our own course and steer star-guided over life's trackless ocean.*' 

A.D.H. 
Spkingfield, Ohio, December 1, 1881. 



Noble and Heroic Deeds 



OF 



MEN AND WOMEN. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Of this great man it was said that, "He was first in war, first in peace, first in the 
hearts of his countrymen ;" and time has not taken any of renown from his bright 
escutcheon or galaxy of talents. George's father died when he was quite young, 
and the guidance of the future leader through the dangers of childhood devolved 
upon his mother. She was fitted for the high trust of raising up a deliverer for 
our country, and during his eventful life Washington regarded the early train- 
ings of his mother with the deepest gratitude. x He received a good common 
school education, and upon that, a naturally thoughtful and right conditioned 
mind, laid the foundation of future greatness. His culture was altogether his 
own work, and he was, in the strictest sense, a self-made man. Yet from his 
early life he never seemed uneducated. Truth and justice were the cardinal 
virtues of his character. Young Washington was playing in the field one day 
with another boy, when he leaped upon an untamed colt belonging to his moth- 
er. The frightened animal used such great exertions to get rid of his rider that 
he burst a blood vessel and died. George went immediately to his mother and 
gave her a truthful relation of all that had happened. This is a noble example 
for all boys. He was beloved by all his young companions, and was always 
chosen their leader in military plays. His mother's persuasions, at the age of 
fourteen, were sufficient to turn him from a wish to enter the navy. Several 
years of his boyhood were spent in surveying in Virginia. In the forest rambles 
incident to his profession he learned much of the topography of the country, 
habits of the Indians, and life in camp. Nature, too, revealed to him her obedi- 
ence to serene and silent laws. These were stern and useful lessons of great 
value in his future life. Young Washington was appointed one of the adjutant- 
generals of his state at the age of nineteen, but soon resigned his commission to 
accompany an invalid half-brother to the West Indies, At the age of twenty- 
seven years Washington married the beautiful Martha Custis, and they took up 
their abode at Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potomac. Residing there 

until 1774. he was chosen to nil a seat in the Virginia Legislature. The storm of 
—- m 



10 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

the great revolution was then gathering, and toward the close of summer he was 
elected a delegate to the first continental congress, which assembled at Philadel- 
phia in September. By the unanimous voice of his compatriots he was chosen 
commander-in-chief of the army of freemen which had gathered spontaneously 
around Boston. It was a fortunate circumstance attending his election that it 
was accompanied with no competition and followed by no envy. Washington 
at once moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and on the third day of July, 1775, 
attended by a suitable escort, proceeded from his headquarters to a great elm 
tree — one of the most majestic natives of the forest. Under the shadows of that 
wide spread tree, Washington moving forward a few paces, drew his sword as 
commander-in-chief of the American army, declaring that it should never be 
sheathed until the liberties of his country were established. After various vi- 
cissitudes, numerous battles, successes and reverses, of which every American is 
familiar, he forced Lord Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown, by which great 
achievement he put an end to the active operations of the revolutionary struggle, 
and secured peace and independence to his country. And when the blessed 
morning of peace dawned at Yorktown, and the last hoof of the oppressor had 
left our shores, Washington was hailed as the deliverer of his people, and he 
was regarded by the aspirants for freedom in the eastern hemisphere as the bril. 
liant day-star of promise to future generations. Frederick the Great declared, 
with reference to some of Washington's achievements, that they were not ex- 
celled in brilliancy by any recorded in the annals of military action. There is 
no doubt that had Washington so desired, he could have founded a monarchy, 
sustained by the bayonets of his army. The officers around Newburgh called a 
secret meeting, and finally determined upon the title of king for the head of the 
government. Washington spurned the gilded bribe of a king's crown, and 
promptly and sternly rebuked the abettors of the scheme. When the federal 
constitution was framed, and a president of the United States was to be chosen, 
according to its provisions, his countrymen, with unanimous voice, called him to 
the highest place of honor in the gift of a free people. Washington presided 
over the affairs of the new republic for eight years, and those the most eventful 
in its history. To guide the ship of state through the rocks and quicksands 
of all the difficulties that arose required great executive skill and wisdom. 
Washington possessed both, and he retired from the theater of public life with- 
out the least stain of reproach upon his judgment or his intentions. On Septem- 
ber 15, 1796, Washington published his farewell address to the country he had 
formed — almost out of chaos. John Adams succeeded him in office, although he 
could have been elected a third time had not private affairs demanded his atten- 
tion, and the father of his country retired to his home at Mount Vernon, fol- 
lowed by the love and admiration of a people who now fully recognized his pub- 
lic spirit, his staunch integrity, and the extent of his intellectual resources. 
There he died on December 14, 1799, his epitaph a nation's praise. Europe paid 
tribute to the memory of Washington. His name was perpetuated in the 
names of a multitude of American localities, and his countenance became a per- 
petual heirloom among his people. Napoleon Bonaparte said of this great man : 
" Posterity will talk of Washington with reverence as the founder of a great 
empire, when my name shall be lost in the vortex of revolution." Courage was 



V9 MEN AND WOMEN. 11 

10 natural to him that it was hardly spoken of to his praise ; no one ever, at any 
moment of his life, discovered in him ttie least shrinking in danger, and he had 
a hardihood of daring which escaped notice, because it was so enveloped by su- 
perior calmness and wisdom. His hand was liberal; giving quietly and without 
observation, as though he was ashamed of nothing but being discovered in doing 
good. Integrity was so completely the law of his nature, that a planet would 
sooner have shot from the sphere than he have departed from his uprightness, 
which was so constant that it often seemed to be almost impersonal. He loved 
fame, the approval of coming generations, the good will of his fellowmen of his 
own time, and he desired to make his conduct coincide with their wishes ; but 
not fear of censure, not the prospect of applause, could tempt him to swerve 
from rectitude, and the praise which he coveted was the sympathy of that moral 
sentiment which exists in every human breast, and goes forth only to the wel- 
come of virtue. This is he who was raised up to be not the head of a party, 
but the father of his country. And such was the life and beautiful example 
which Columbia's most beloved son left for us as a legacy. 



jonx ELIOT. 

Justly termed "the apostle to the Indians," John Elfot was the most successful 
in his efforts to Christianize portions of the aboriginals of this country. Born in 
Essex County, England, in 1604, and during the decade from 1630 to 1640, he was 
associated with Mr. Wilde at the head of a congregation at Roxbury. Looking 
upon the dusky tribes aroimd him, the heart of Mr. Eliot was troubled by a view 
of their spiritual destitution, and he resolved to preach the gospel among these 
heathen neighbors. First mastering the twenty different dialects spoken by as 
many tribes, he began his labors. Although violently opposed by the Indian 
priests, whose "craft was in danger/' and also by some of the sachems and 
chiefs, he was not dismayed, but penetrated the deep wilderness in all directions, 
relying solely upon his God for protection. Finally an Indian town was built at 
Natick, and a house of worship — the first for the use of Indians ever erected by 
Protestants in America — was reared there in 1660. Still extending his labors of 
love, his influence became unbounded over them; and he was also their protect- 
or when, during King Philip's war, the Massachusetts people wished to extermi- 
nate the Indians without discrimination. It was estimated that there were five 
thousand "praying Indians" — as the converts were calied — among the New En- 
gland tribes when Philip raised the hatchet. When the weight of four score 
years bowed the pious apostle, and he could no longer visit the Indian churches, 
he persuaded a number of families to send their negro servants to him to be in- 
structed in gospel truth. With the triumphant words, " Welcome joy," upon 
his lips, the venerable and faithful servant died on the 20th of May, 1690, at the 
age of eighty-six years. 



12 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



JOHN WINTHROP. 



As governor of the puritan colony which John Endicott had founded at Salem, 
John Winthrop founded the future metropolis of Boston, because there pure 
water flowed from the hills. The first subject brought under consideration in 
his new government was a suitable provision for the support of the gospel. Mr. 
Winthrop was a man of great benevolence. It was his practice to send his serv- 
ants among the people at m* al time on trifling errands, with instructions to re- 
port the condition of their tables. When informed of any who appeared to 
want, he always sent a supply from his own abundance. He was also merciful 
as a magistrate, for he considered it expedient to temper the severity of law with 
more lenity in an infant colony than in a settled state. Because of his lenity 
toward offenders he was charged, in 1636, of dealing "too remissly in point of 
justice." Governor Winthrop came to America a wealthy man, but died quite 
poor. His benevolent heart kept his hand continually open, and he dispensed 
comforts to the needy without stint. He regarded all men as equally dear in the 
eyes of their Maker, yet his early education blinded him to the dignity of true 
democracy. When the people of Connecticut asked his advice concerning the 
organization of a government, he replied, "The best part of a community is al- 
ways the least, and of that least part the wiser are still less." Worn out with 
toils and afflictions, this faithful and upright magistrate entered upon his final 
rest on the 26th oi March, 1649, at the age of sixty-one years. 



ANNE LETITIA BARBAULD. 

The woman whose name heads this article was long admired for her genius and 
virtue. She was born at the village of Kibworth liarconrt, in Leicestershire, 
on June 20th, 1743, the eldest child and only daughter of John Aiken, I). D., a 
dissenting clergyman, who kept an academy. Her private education, the re- 
ligious influenees of her home and secluded life in the country, were well fitted 
to develop early her natural taste for poetry, ner education was principally con- 
ducted by her excellent mother, a lady whose manners were polished by early 
introduction into good company. In the middle of the last century a strong 
prejudice still existed against imparting to females any tincture of classical 
learning. For a longtime this was denied Miss Aiken, but at length she overcame 
the scruples of her father and with his assistance she became acquainted with 
many old Latiu ami Greek authors. Her recollections of childhood and early 
youth were not associated with much of the pleasure and gayety usually attend- 
ant upon that period of life; but it must be regarded as a circumstance favorable^ 
rather than otherwise, to the unfolding of her genius, to have been thus left to 
find her own objects of interest and persuit. The spirit of devotion early incul- 
cated upon her as a duty, opened to her by degrees an inexhaustible source of 
tender and sublime delight, and while yet a child, she was surprised to find her- 
self a poet She was possessed of great beauty, distinct traces of which she re- 
tained to the latest period of life. Her person was slender, her complexion 
exquisitely fair, with the bloom of perfect health; her features were regular 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 18 

and elegant, and her dark blue eyes beamed with the light of wit and fancy. 
About the close of the year 1771, her brother persuaded her, and by his assistance 
her poems were selected, revised and arranged for publication; and when all these 
preparations were completed, finding that she still hesitated and lingered, like 
the parent bird who pushes off her young to its first flight, he procuied the 
paper, and set the press to work on his own authority. A number of editions 
were gone through with; compliments and congratulations poured in from all 
quarters, and even the periodical cntics greeted her muse with unmixed ap- 
plause. In 1774, Miss Aiken was married to the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld, a 
descendant of French protectants. Subsequently, Mr. Barbauld opened a board- 
ing school in the village of Palgrove, in Suffolk. This school was largely attend- 
ed, and was taught in English composition by Mrs. Barbauld several times a 
week; the boys were called in separate classes, in her apartments; she read a 
fable, a short story, or a moral essay to them, aloud, an 1 then sent them back 
into the school room to write it out in their own words. Each exercise was over- 
looked by her; the faults of grammar were obliterated, the vulgarities chastised, 
the idle epithets canceled, and a distinct reason always assigned for every cor- 
rection. In all the branches which she tau.ht she attempted to relieve the dry- 
ness of the study by so many strokes of description, and such luminous views, 
that they were always remembered. In 1790, the rejection of a bill for the repeal 
of the Corporation and Test Acts, called forth her eloquent and indignant ad- 
dress to the opposers of this repeal. Her poetical epistle to Mr. Wiiberforce, 
on the rejection of the bill for abolishing the slave trade, was written in 1791. 
To claim for this distinguished woman the praise of purity and elevation of 
mind may well appear superfluous. She was acquainted \\ ith almost all the 
female writers of her time, and there was not one of the number whom she failed 
frequently to mention in terms of admiration, esteem, and affection, whether in 
conversation, in letters to friends, or in print. To humbler aspirants in the 
career of letters, who often applied to her for advice or assistance, she was in- 
variably courteous, and in many instances essentially serviceable. The sight or 
youth and beauty was peculiarly gratiiying to her fancy and her feelings, and 
children and young persons, especially females, were accordingly large sharers in 
her benevolence. In the conjugal relations, her conduct was guided by the high- 
est principles of love and duty. As a sister, the uninterrupted flow of her affec- 
tion, manifested by numberless tokens of love, not alone to her brother but to every 
member of the family, were ever recalled by them with emotions of tenderness, 
respect and gratitude. She passed through life without having dropped, it is 
believed, a single friendship, and without having drawn upon herself a single 
enmity which could properly be called personal. The cause of rational educa- 
tion is more indebted to her than to any individual of modern times, inasmuch 
as she was the leader in that reformation which has resulted in substituting the 
use of truth and reason for folly and fiction in books for the nursery. She has 
also shown that a talent for writing for y nth is not incompatible with powers of 
the highest order. All her compositions are characterized by simplicity of 
feeling, an easy flowing style, and pure and elevated sentiment. 



14 



NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 




WILLIAM PENN. 

"Thou 'It find," said the Quaker, "in me and mine, 
But friends and brothers to thee and th ne ; 
Who abuse no power and admit no line, 
'Twixt the red man and the white." 



This was the guiding principle of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. 
Having in early life dissented from the church of his family and joined the 
Quakers, he did work of proselyting, and suffered revilings and imprisonments 
" for conscience sake." In 1681, wishing to establish a home for the oppressed 
Friends in England, he secured from Charles II. the grant of a large tract west of 
the Delaware, in lieu of sixteen thousand pounds due his father by the crown, 
on condition of paying annually two beaver skins. This territory Penn wished 
to have called Sylvania (sylva, forest) as it was covered with woods ; but the king 
ordered it to be styled Pennsylvania, and although Penn offered the secretary 
twenty guineas to erase the prefix, his request was denied. Penn immediately 
sent a body of emigrants to begin the " holy experiment," and came himself 
the next year. He was royally received, for his first proclamation had preceded 
him with the spirit of a benediction. " I hope you will not be troubled at your 
change and the king's choice," he wrote, "for you are now fixed, at the mercy 
of no governor that comes to make his fortune great. You shall be governed 
by laws of your own making, and live a free, and if you will, a sober and in- 



OJT MEN AND WOMEN. 15 

dustrious people." He founded Philadelphia—City of Brotherly Love — toward 
the close of the same year; and within twenty-lour months afterward two thous- 
and settlers were planting their homes there. A legislature appointed by the 
people was to make all the laws. Every sect was to be tolerated. Any free man 
could vote and hold office who believed in God and kept the Lord's day. No 
tax could be levied except by law. Every child was to be taught a useful trade. 
It seemed to be Penn's only desire to make the little colony as happy and free 
as could be. Penn's treaty with the Indians, "was the only one never sworn to, 
and the only one never broken." Penn returned to England in 1684, and 
through his influence with the king, obtained the release of thirteen hundred 
Quakers then in prison. He was himself thrown into prison upon being sus- 
pected of adhering to the fallen monarch. In 1699 he again visited America. 
He died at the age of seventy-four years, greatly beloved by the Indians; and 
it is worthy of remark that not a drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by the 
savages. 



JOHN LAURENS. 

Among the most distinguished worthies of the revolution, Lieutenant-Colonel 
John Laurens was one ; for no man more highly merited the gratitude of his 
country. His general character is well known. His extensive information and 
classical knowledge obtained the respect of the learned. His polite and easy 
behavior insured distinction in every polished society. The warmth of his heart 
gained the affection of his friends, his sincerity their confidence and esteem. His 
patriotic integrity commanded the veneration of his countrymen — his intrepid- 
ity their unlimited applause. An insult to his friend he regarded as a wound to 
his own honor. Such an occurrence led him to engage in a personal contest 
with General Charles Lee, who had spoken disrespectfully of General Washing- 
ton. The veteran, who was wounded on the occasion, being asked how Laurens 
had conducted himself, replied, "I could have hugged the noble boy, he pleased 
me- so." His gallantry in action was highly characteristic of his love of fame. 
The post of danger was his favorite station. Some, indeed, may style his intre- 
pidity, at every risk, the height of rashness. Strictly speaking, it was so. But, 
at the beginning of the war, when the British officers were persuaded, or affected 
to believe that every American was a coward, such total disregard of personal 
safety on the part of Laurens, such display of chivalric intrepidity, that equally 
excited their surprise and admiration, was essentially beneficial to our cause. 

But + 1 ere is one service rendered to his country, which, though little known, 
entities him to its warmest gratitude. When sent by Congress to negotiate a 
ioan from the French Government, although his reception was favorable and en- 
couragement given that his request would be granted, yet the delays perpetually 
contrived by the Minister, the Count de Vergennes, afforded little prospect of 
immediate success. Convinced that procrastination would give a death blow to 
independence, he resolved, in defiance &Z all the etiquette of the court, to 
make a personal appeal to the king. Dr. Franklin, our Minister at Versailles, 
vehemently opposed his intention, and finding Laurens firm in his purpose, he 



16 KOBLB AND HEROIC DEEDS 

said: "I most cordially wish you success, Colonel, but anticipate so different a 
result that I warn you — I wash my hands of the consequences." Accordingly, at 
the first levee, Colonel Laurens, walking directly up to the king, delivered a me- 
morial, to which he solicited his most serious attention, and said: "Should the 
favor asked be denied, or even delayed, there is cause to fear that the sword 
which I wear may no longer be drawn in the deiense of the liberties of my 
country, but be wielded as a British subject against the monarchy of France." 
His decision met with the reward it merited. Apologies were made for delays. 
The Minister gave his serious attention to the subject, and the negotiation was 
crowned with success. 

When requested to carry a message to provost on his approach to the lines of 
Charleston, proposing "neutrality during the continuance of the war," he de- 
clined it with decision : " I will do anything," said he, " to serve my country, 
but never bear a message that would disgrace her." When General Mo ui trie, 
who equally spurned the idea of entering upon terms with the enemy, declared 
in council "that he would not deliver up his continentals as prisoners of war," 
Laurens leaped from his seat and exclaimed, "'Tis a glorious resolve General; 
thank God, we are on our legs again." 

Had not death stopped the career of his glory he would have proven a model 
both of civil and military virtue, " a mirror by which our youth might dress 
themselves." 



JOAN OF ARC. 

This historic woman, known also as Jaune d'Arc and the "Maid of Orleans," 
was one of the most celebrated heroines of France. She was born of humble and 
honest parents, during the year 1412, in the village of Domremy, on the borders 
of Lorraine. She was the fifth child, and owing to the indigence of her father 
received no instruction, but was accustomed to out-of-door duties, such as the 
tending of sheep and the riding of horses to and from the watering places. She 
was taught, like other young women of her station, to spin and sew. By her 
modesty, greater simplicity, industry and piety, she was distinguished from the 
other girls of her acquaintance. When about thirteen years of age she believed 
that she saw a flash of light and heard an unearthly voice, which enjoined her to 
be modest and to be diligent in her religious duties. The impression made up- 
on her excitable mind by the national distresses of the time, soon gave a new 
character to the revelation which she supposed herself to receive, and when 
fifteen years old she imagined that she was called to go and fight for the dauphin. 
Her story was at first rejected as that of an insane person. All the while she 
was imbibing the spirit of the times, listened to the daily and varying tale, be- 
coming interested in political affairs. Having made her mission known to the 
governor, and he not being disposed to hear her at first, she was not daunted, 
but renewed her solicitations daily, and at each visit her importunity was in- 
creased. He at length adopted the scheme of Joan, gave her some attendants, 
and accompanied her to the French court. 

Not the marvelous alone, but the miraculous also, is attached to the history of 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 17 

this extraordinary woman. An assembly of grave divines examined Joan's mis- 
sion, and pronounced it to be undoubted ; and the parliament, collected at Poc- 
ters, confirmed the decisions of the theologians. Joan was dressed in a com- 
plete male suit of armor, mounted on a prancing charger, and shown to the ad- 
miring people. It was now determined to try her force against the enemy. With 
a sword and a white banner she put herself at the head of the French troops, 
whom her example and the notion of her heavenly mission inspired with new 
enthusiasm. On April 29, 1429, she threw herself, with supplies of provisions, 
into Orleans, then clo>ely besieged by the English, and from the 4th to the 8th 
of May, made successful sallies upon the English, which resulted in their being 
compelled to raise the siege. After this important victory the national ardor of 
the French was rekind.ed to the utmost, and Joan became the dread of the pre- 
viously triumphant English. She conducted the dauphin to Rheims, where he 
was crowned, July 17, 1429, and Joan, with many tears, saluted him as king. 
She now wished to return home, deeming her mission accomplished, but Charles 
importuned her to remain with his army, to which she consented. 

On one occasion the French gave way, and Joan was left near'.y alone. Com- 
pelled at length to join the deserters, she displayed on high the sacred banner; 
while with her voice, her countenance, and her gestures, she animated her rec- 
reant followers, led them back to the charge, turned the fortune of the field, and 
overpowered the enemy. When wounded, on another occasion, in the neck by 
an arrow, she retired for a moment, and exclaimed, as with her own hand she 
extracted the weapon, " It is glory, and not blood, which flows from this 
wound." The wound having been dressed quickly, she returned to head the as- 
sailants and to plant her victorious standard on the enemy's ramparts. 

The English, supported by the Duke of Burgundy, laid siege to the town of 
Compeige, into which Joan threw herself. The garrison, who, with her assist- 
ance, believed themselves invincible, received her with transports of joy. Here, 
however, good fortune forsook her, and after performing prodigies of valor and 
losing her horse under her, she was compelled to surrender to the enemy. The 
Burgundians, into whose hands-she had fallen, sold her to the English for ten 
thousand livres. It is believed the French officers, jealous of the glory of the 
maid, had designedly exposed her to this fatal catastrophe. Such is human 
gratitude and the fate of merit, and such the recompense awarded to the bene- 
factors of their species. She was tried for sorcery and magic, and sentenced to 
perpetual imprisonment; and to be fed, during life, on bread and water. But 
the barbarous vengeance of Joan's enemies was not yet satisfied. For almost 
four months she was continually harrassed by questions and persecutions — the 
most ridiculous and absurd ; she was asked whether at the coronation of Charles 
she had not displayed a standard consecrated by magical incantation. "Her 
trust," she replied, "was in the image of the Almighty impressed on the banner, 
and that she, who had shared the danger of the field, was entitled to partake of 
the glory at Rheims." During these trying examinations she betrayed no weak- 
ness, nor gave to her persecutors any advantage ; she disgraced not the heroism 
she had displayed on the field. At length she was excommunicated, and all 
pardon, all mercy, refused her. Words which fell from her when subjected to 
great indignities, and her resumption of male attire when all articles of female 



18 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

dress were carefully removed from her, were made grounds of concluding that 
she had relapsed, and she was again brought to the stake on May 30, 1431, and 
burned. On the right hand of the scaffold, on which she was exposed to the 
savage fury of the people, were stationed the clergy, and on the left the secular 
officers. In this situation she was, with solemn mockery, interrogated on the 
principles of her faith, principles which appeared to differ in no respect from those 
of her merciless persecutors. She was at the conclusion informed " that the 
meek and merciful ministers of the gospel had, for the execution of their sen- 
tence, handed her over to the secular powers. " Dieu soil bene! — Blessed be 
God I" exclaimed the sufferer, as she placed herself on the pile. Her body was 
quickly consumed and her ashes scattered to the winds. Thus perished this he- 
roic woman to whom "the more liberal and generous superstitions of the 
ancients would have erected altars." 

In 1454, a revision of the sentence of Joan was demanded by her family, and 
the memory of Joan was fully cleared of every imputation which could tend to 
its dishonor. Monuments were erected to her memory and honor in Orleans, at 
Rouen, and various parts of France. The character of our subject was spotless. 
Her hand never shed blood. The gentle dignity of her bearing impressed all 
who knew her, and restrain ed the brutality of her soldiers. 



BENJAMIN RUST. * 

Self-sacrificing devotion to duty and to humanity is commendable in every age. 
The terrible ravages of the first appearance of the yellow fever in this country, 
in 1793, will never be forgotten; neither will the efforts of Benjamin Rust, whose 
untiring zeal was directed to allay the plague. He certainly deserves the appel- 
lation given to St. Luke, of "the beloved physician." He was born near Phila- 
delphia, Dec. 24, 1745, and was educated at Princeton college. He was elected 
a member of the continental congress and advocated and signed the declaration 
of independence. He received several high appointments, although he saw fit 
to refuse many others. He cared not to act in public capacities, preferring rather 
to occupy the more humble walks of life. He resigned his post in the army, be- 
cause he could not prevent frauds upon the soldiers in the hospital stores. In 
1785, he planned the Philadelphia dispensary, the first in the United States. It 
is believed that he save 1 the lives of 6,000 persons during the yellow fever epi- 
demic. When many alarmed physicians fled, Dr. Rust remained at the post of 
duty, with a few faithful students. Some of his pupils died, and he was violent- 
ly attacked by the disease, yet he did not remit his labors when he could leave 
his bed. In all stations he exhibited the character of a consistent Christian, and 
his principles remained unscathed amid all the infidelity which French writers 
had infused into the minds of men in high places toward the close of the last 
century. That great and good man died peacefully at Philadelphia, on the 19th 
of April, 1813, when in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



19 



HANNAH DUSTIN. 

"Experience teaches us that resolution's a sole help at need : " 

The pioneer women of this country found it necessary to be bold in every 
enterprise. When the Indians who dwelt at the source of the Merrimac River 
and in the region around about, after a great freshet on the fifteenth of March, 
1697, came down the river and attacked Haverhill, Hannah Dustin was confined 
to her bed with an infant only a week old. Her husband catching the alarm 
from the field fled to the house and consulted his wife on the course he should 
pursue. She calmly told him to leave her and her infant to their fate, and to 
make his escape, if possible, with her other children. He sent seven of the 
children on a path through the woods, on the way to the garrison, and mounting 




MRS. DTJSTIN'S MIDNIGHT ATTACK. 

his horse he followed in the rear; with his musket he kept the pursuing Indians 
at bay, until he found his charge in a safe place. Before Mr. Dustin reached 
the garrison, the Indians returned and captured his sick wife and Mary Neif, 
her nurse. They, with other captives, took up their march by order of the sav- 
ages, for the north. After they had traveled a few miles, the Indians found the 
infant troublesome, and taking the child from the arms of the nurse, dashed its 
brains out against a tree. Mrs. Dustin was feeble and wretched, but this outrage 
nerved her soul for every, enterprise. She wept no more; the agony of nature 
drank the tear-drop ere it fell. She looked to heaven with a silent prayer for 
succor and vengeance, and followed the infernal group without a word of com- 
plaint. They were marched through the wilderness for several days, till they 
came to a halt on an island in the Merrimac river, about six miles above Concord, 
New Hampshire. There they were placed in a wigwam occupied by two men, 



20 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

three women, seven children of theirs, and an English boy who had been cap- 
tured about a year previous, at Worcester. The captives remained there till the 
thirtieth of the month before they planned escape. On that day the boy was re- 
quested by Mrs. Dustin to ask his master where to strike "to kill instantly," 
and the savage was simple enough to tell, and also instructed him in the art of 
scalping. "At night, while the household slumbers, the captives, each with a 
tomahawk, strike vigorously and fleetly, and with division of labor — and of the 
tweive sleepers, ten lie dead^ of one squaw the wound was not mortal; one 
child was spared from design. The love of glory next asserted its p> wer; and 
the gun and tomahawk of the murderer of her infant, and a bag heaped full of 
scalps, were choicely kept as trophies of the heroine. The streams are the guides 
which God has set for the stranger in the wilderness; in a bark canoe the three 
descended the Merrirnac to the English settlements, astonishing their friends by 
their escape, and filling the land with wonder at their successful daring." Mrs. 
Dustin had the happiness of meeting her husband and seven children, who had 
escaped from the house before the savasres entered, and the honor of a very 
handsome present from Colonel Nicholson, governor of Maryland, as a reward 
for her heroism. The people of Boston made her manypresents. All classes 
were anxious to see the heroine, and they found her as modest as brave. 



DIXON H. LEWIS. 

Ample as were the bodily dimensions of Senator Lewis, of Alabama, they were 
but a true indication of the greatness of his mind. An anecdote is told of him 
which is a characteristic one. Upon his return from Washington, at one time, 
the vessel in which he had embarked was overtaken by a storm, which so dam- 
aged her timbers that she was soon found to be in a sinking condition. The 
safety of the passengers and crew depended on the long boat, to which they had 
recou ise, and she was loaded to the water's edge. Mr. Lewis was the last person 
on board the sinking ship, and as he was about to leave her he saw the perilous 
condition of the boat which his weight, for he exceeded four hundred pounds 
must inevitably swamp, and he positively refused to enter until she had been to 
land and deposited her living freight safe on shore. It was a question of one 
life against many. If he entered the boat all might be lost, while he alone 
would sink with the ship if he were not rescued before she went down ; and he 
generously and heroically resigned himself to what appeared to be inevitable 
destruction that he might save his fellow passengers. He was, however, happily 
saved, and long afterward represented his state in the United States Senate. 



A GIRL'S HEROISM. \ 

Remarkable instances of deeds of daring and heroism are by no means scarce 
in which children occupy the commendable roles. Great presence of mind was 
exhibited by a little girl of Picton, South Carolina. She was only seven years 
old, and was with her brother, aged five years, locked up by her mother on going 
out Some female wearing apparel took fire from a lamp. Alice, the little girl, 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 21 

knew that the key was left in the door outside. She formed the terrible project 
of jumping from the third story window, and thus releasing her brother. Lower- 
ing herself by the arms as far as possible, she dropped a distance of thirty-five 
feet. Her clothes buoyed her up, and she was not much injured. But when she 
rushed up to the chamber door and opened it, her brother was gone. He, too, 
had crawled out of the window to see where his sister had gone, and fell to the 
ground. He was somewhat scratched, but not seriously iujured. An arm and 
leg of the daring girl were hurt, but not seriously. 



SAMUEL KIBKLAND. 

Peerless among those faithful messengers who carried the gospel of peace, love 
and brotherhood to the dark minded without the pale of civilization, was Sam- 
uel Kirkland; who, for forty years labored with untiring zeal among the pagans 
of central New York. He was born at Norwich, Connecticut, on the 1st of 
December, 1741, and through life exhibited the indomitable courage, energy and 
perseverance of his Scotch lineage. In Dr. Wheelock's school, which he had 
entered to prepare to be a missionary among the Indians, he was much beloved 
for his gentleness; a quality which endeared him to his fellow students at 
Princeton. He entered upon this work and made his residence among the 
Oneidas at their council house, a little south-west of Fort Stamoix, now Rome. 
There he built a bouse with his own hands, and labored day and night for the 
good of the poor Indians. Toil and exposure impaired his health. During all 
the troubles and insecurities of those times, be did not desert his post, but labor- 
ed on through all the dark scenes of the seven year's war that ensued, not only 
for the spiritual benefit of the dusky tribes, but in unceasing endeavors to keep 
the six nations neutral. He accompanied a delegation of Senecas to Philadel- 
phia, in 1790, and was rewarded by the conversion of the great chief, Corn- 
planter, with whom he traveled, instructed and convinced. In 1793, he es- 
tablished an institution of learning, under the title of The Hamilton Oneida* 
Academy, This was the origin of Hamilton College. Up to the time of his 
deatn, in 1808, when he was in the sixty-seventh year of his age, he continued 
his self-sacrificing work among the Oneidas. His life is a beautiful example of 
Christian purity and devotion to the cause of enlightening the darkened minds of 
the savages. 



JAMES MILXOR. 

It has been the privilege of very few men to be so eminently useful as James 
Milnor, in all that pertains to the well being of his fellow creatures. In the do- 
mestic circle, he was reverenced for his unalloyed goodness; in the legal pro- 
fession he was called "the honest lawyers" as a legislator he was beneficent and 
patriotic; as a Christian he was without guile; and in the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, he was one of the most promineut of all her evangelical clergy; yet in 
nothing wanting as one of her most loyal sons. 

He was early sent to college ; but to relieve his father of heavy expenses on 



22 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEED8 

his account, James left the university before taking his degree, and at the age of 
about sixteen years commenced the study of law. At one time, when a member 
of congress, Henry Clay, then the speaker, becoming incensed at one of Milnor's 
debates, challenged him to a duel. Mr. Milnor bravely refused, first because 
Mr. Clay had no right to call him to account for his public acts, and secondly 
because he was opposed, in principle, to the cowardly practice of dueling. 
There the matter ended, and in after years, when Mr. Milnor was an eminent 
minister of tiie Gospel, he and the great statesman met on the most friendly 
terms. On one of his visits home, during his term in congress, his little daugh- 
ter, Anna, met iam as he entered the house, and said: " Papa, do you know I 
can read?" "No, let me hear you," he replied. She selected the words, " Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." This incident made a great im- 
pression on his mind. Religious truths were pressed upon his mind, and he 
changed from his original profession to that of the ministry. His ministerial 
career was brilliant. Dr. Milnor was extremely active in the promotion of 
schemes of Christian benevolence. He was one of the founders of the American 
Tract Society, in 1824, and continued to be one of its most active mem hers until 
his death. The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, the Orphan Asylum, the Home 
for aged indigent females, and many kindred institutions, felt his fostering care. 
His whole life was spent in doing good; and when death came, he departed 
knowing that he had left as a legacy a life well spent. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR. 

Tnr people of the United States are professedly peace-loving, yet nowhere is 
a military hero more sincerely worshiped by vast masses than here; not, we 
may charitably hope, because of his vocation, but because of the good achieved 
for his country by his brave deeds; and when that worship is excessive because 
of some brilliant act, then the people desire to apotheosize the hero by crowning 
him with the highest honors of the nation — the civic wreath of chief magistrate. 
When war was declared against Great Britain in 1812, Zachary Taylor held a 
captain's commission, and he was placed in command of Fort Harrison, a stock- 
ade on the Wabash River. There, in his gallant operations against the Indians, 
he gave promise of future renown, and for his heroic defense of his post he was 
breveted major. He served with distinction under General Scott in the "Black 
Hawk war." Then he went to Florida, and in his operations against the 
Seminoles he evinced generalship superior to any officer there. He was actively 
engaged in the Mexiean war; and on his return he was greeted everywhere with 
the wildest enthusiasm. For his daring intrepidity and unwavering courage, the 
Whig pa*ty, governed by the applauding voice of the nation, regarded him as 
eminently "available," and nominated him for the office of President of the 
United States. He was elected by a large majority; but the duties of his office 
bore heavily upon him, and after holding the reins of the federal government 
for sixteen months, death came to the presidential mansion, and on the 9th of 
July, 1850, the brave hero died, at the age of sixty-five years. 



OP MEN AND WOMEN. 23 



ANNE BOLEYN. 

"Uneasy rests the head that wears a crown," was never better verified than in 
the life of the subject of this sketch. 

Anne Boleyn was born in 1507, and carried to France at seven years of age. 
After the death of Louis his widow returned to her native country, but Anne re- 
mained in France. The beauty and accomplishments of Anne attracted, even at a 
very early age, general admiration at the French court. She returned to En- 
gland about the time when scruples were first entertained by Henry VIII. re- 
specting the legality of his marriage with the betrothed wife and widow of his 
brother, Catharine of Arragon. In his visits to the queen, to whom Anne Boleyn 
became maid of honor, Henry had an opportunity of observing her beauty and 
captivating manner. Anne quickly perceived her influence over the heart of the 
monarch, whose passion, either from principle or policy, she resolutely resisted. 
The enamored Henry, despairing of succeeding with the lady but upon honor- 
able terms, was, by her conduct, stimulated to redouble his efforts to procure a 
release from his former engagements. The impatience of Henry suffered him 
not to wait for a dissolution of his marriage wilji Catharine ; a private ceremony 
nnited him with Anne Boleyn on the 14th of November, 1532. The marriage was 
made public on Easter eve, 1533, when Anne was declared queen of England and 
crowned the first of the following June. 

The affection of the king for his new queen seemed, for a time, to increase 
rather than diminish by possession, but in about six years his love began to 
languish and visibly decay. The enemies of Anne, who were the first to perceive 
the change, eagerly sought to widen the breach, and jealousy was the engine 
which they employed for her destruction, with the greatest success. No real 
stigma has been thrown on the conduct of Anne, but a certain levity of spirits 
and gayety of character, which she had probably acquired from her education in 
France, rendered her manners unguarded. She was more vain than proud, and 
took a coquettish pleasure in beholding the effects of her charms, and indulged 
herself in an easy familiarity with those who had formerly been her equals. 
Her popular manners offended the dignity of Henry; if the lover had been 
blind to the foibles of his mistress, the husband became but too quick sighted to 
the indiscretions of his wife. A passion for anew object had vanquished, in the 
heart of a capricious despot, the small remains of his affection for Anne, who 
was supplanted in the affections of her husband. His jealousy, over which he 
secretly brooded, first manifested itself at a tournament at Greenwich, where the 
queen having let fall her handkerchief, he construed this accident into a signal 
of gallantry, anct retiring instantly from the place sent orders to confine her to 
her chamber. Five gentlemen, charged with being her paramours, were arrested 
and thrown into prison. She was the next day sent to the Tower, and on her 
way thither informed of what she had till then been unconscious, the crimes and 
misdemeanor alleged against her. As she entered the prison she fell on her 
knees and called God to witness how guiltless she was of the offenses imputed to 
her charge. * 

The sweetness and beneficence of Anne's temper had, during her prosperity, 



24 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

made her numberless friends, but in her falling fortunes no one even attempted 
to interpose between her and the fury of the king; she, whose < p pea ranee had 
dressed every face in smiles, was now abandoned, uupitied and aiune, to her ad- 
verse destiny. 

The gentlemen who were imprisoned on her account, although no proof of 
their gu It was made out, were condemned and executed. The queen and her 
brother, the Viscount Rocheford, were tried by a jury of peers. Anne, though 
unassisted by counsel, defended herself with so much clearness and presence of 
mind that the spectators unanimously believed her to be guiltless. Judgment 
was, however, passed by the court both against her and her brotner. She was 
sentenced by the verdict to be beheaded or burned, according to the king's 
pleasure. "Oh I Father," said she, lifting up her eyes, when this dreadful sen- 
tence was pronounced, " Oh ! Creator, thou who art the way, the truth, and the 
life, thou knowest that I have not deserved this death !" Then turning to the 
judges she pathetically declared her innocence. In her last message to the king 
she thanked him for having advanced her from private life to the throne, and 
now since he could raise her no higher in this wor*d he was sending her to heaven. 
She earnestly recommended her daughter to his care, and renewed her protesta- 
tions of her innocence and fidelity. At the scaffold she prayed for the king, and 
said to the lieutenant of the Tower, "The executioner is, I hear, very expert, and 
my neck," grasping it with her hand, and laughing heartily, " is very slender." 
She met death with firmness, and her body was thrown negligently into a common 
elm chest, made to hold arrows, and buried in the Tower. 



REWARD OF A BRA YE DEED. 

Every year on the occasion of the national fetes the Belgian government 
makes a public distribution of rewards to persons who have performed remark- 
able acts of courage in good causes. Among those who were rewarded recently 
was a little boy of nine, whose exploit may be contrasted with the behavior of 
the people who allowed the little girl to be drowned in Kensington Gardens. 
Gen in, playing in a field a few months ago, saw a little girl fall into the Sambre. 
Without knowing who the child was, he plunged into the river, and after some 
trouble saved her. The child turned out to be his own sister. Not content with 
having rescued her from death, Genin, like a good-hearted little boy, wanted to 
shield her from the punishment she had deserved for playing too near the river, 
contrary to her parents' orders. So he took the blame of her disobedience upon 
himself and received a beating from his father. The little girl, however, could 
not bear to see him suffer in this way, and afterward told the whole truth, which 
was corroborated by the evidence of an eye witness. The facts then became 
public, and young Genin was summoned to Brussels at the fetes to receive a 
national recompense. He was of course loudly cheered as he stepped up to the 
platform, and M. Rolin-Jacquemym^ the Home Minister, in pinning a medal to 
his breast, called him a little hero. 



OP MEN AND WOMEN. 



25 




ROBERT MORRIS. 

To the zeal and ability of Washington alone, were superior honors due, than to 
Robert Morris, whose extraordinary powers in the Department of Finance, and 
successful exertions in the accomplishment of our independence every historian 
cannot but laud. At the time when the army of Washington was perplexed and 
dismayed, having neither ammunition or money to purchase the same, when the 
spouts of houses were melted to furnish lead, Morris had landed a vessel with 
ninety tons of lead, the half of which fortunate supply he gave to the war 
officers, and prevailed upon his partners to give the other half also. The firm of 
which he was a member were among the most wealthy importers of Philadelphia, 
and consequently they were the heaviest losers by the non-importation agree- 
ments, which gave such a deadly blow at the infant commerce of the colonies, 
after the passage of the stamp act. Yet they patriotically joined the league, and 
made the sacrifice for the good of the cause of right. In November, 1775, Mr. 
Morris was elected to a seat in the continental congress, where his exceeding great 
usefulness was soon discovered. Toward the close of the year 1776, when the half 
naked, half famished American army were about to cease the struggle in despair, 
he evinced his faith in the success of the conflict, and his own warm patriotism 
by loaning for the government, on his own responsibility, ten thousand dollars. 
" I want money," said Morris to a Quaker friend, " for the use of the army." 
"What security canst thou give ?" asked the lender. "My note and my honor," re- 
sponded Morris. "Robert, thou shalt have it," was the prompt reply. It gave 
food and clothing to the gallant little band under Washington, who achieved the 
noble victory at Trenton, and a new and powerful impetus was thereby given to 
the revolution. He submitted a plan and established the bank of North America, 
in 1781, with a capital of $400,000, which was of great use to the government. 



26 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

He was a senator In the first congress convened under the Federal Cons itu- 
tion, and Washington appointed him First Secretary of the Treasury. At the 
close of his senatorial term, Mr. Morris retired Lorn public life, not so rich in 
money, by half, as when he entered the arena. Soon the remainder of his for- 
tune was lost in wild land speculations. On the 8th of May, 1806, Robert Mor- 
ris, the great financier of the revolution, died in comparative poverty, at the age 
of seventy-three years. He had husbanded, and with success, the funds of the 
public, but dissipated his own.j 



JOHN EDWARDS. 

It must appear both injudicious and unjust that Mr. John Edwards has been so 
little noticed. This name has been scarcely mentioned in the records of our 
revolution; yet, there was no citizen of the republic in whose bosom the love of 
liberty glowed with more generous enthusiasm. Possessing wealth beyond any 
other mercantile man of the day, he was the first individual in Carolina who 
tendered his fortunes in support of the American cause. Warned by his more 
prudential friends that he placed to much at hazard ; that the success of Ameri- 
ca, opposed to the power of Britain, could scarcely be expected, and that the 
total loss of his ample possessions might follow, with a feeling of patriotism 
that cannot be too highly appreciated, he replied: "Be it so! I would rather 
lose my all than retain it, subject to British authority." His subsequent con- 
duct gives ample testimony that this was no vain boasting. When reprimanded 
by friends, that his course was impolitic and would bring odium upon his name, 
Mr. Edwards said : "Admiral Arbuthnot, it is not the temptation of wealth that 
shall ever induce me to forfeit my honor. I cannot hesitate to choose, where 
duty, inclination, and every virtuous principle point out the course which it be- 
comes me to pursue. My losses have been great, but they cost me not a sigh. 
My moneys were lent to support a cause which I consider that of justice and hu- 
manity. I have a wife, tenderly beloved, and ten children worthy of my most 
ardent affection. They are all dependent on me, and I may probably have little 
to leave them but good principles and an untarnished reputation; but, were a 
gallows to be raised by your order, in my view, and you were to say — Your fate 
depends upon your resolve — take protection or perish — I would, without a moment's 
hesitation — die!" 

His brave and heroic life must be admired when it is remembered that, hearing 
in council the magnanimous proposition to await tlie event of an assault and to 
devote the lives of the garrison at Charleston to the attainment of general good, 
rather than surrender to the enemy, he nobly supported the opinion, and heroic- 
ally declared for death in preference to submission. "I would rather/' he ex- 
claimed, "that my breast should meet the British bayonet, than that my signa- 
ture should be given to any proposition recommending the surrender of the 
city."> 



0* MEN AND WOMEN. 27 



PHEBE ABBOT. 

M One grain of incense with devotion offered, 
Is beyond all perfumes or sabean spices." 

—Massinger, 

Time has not been able to eradicate the noble life of Phebe Abbot, the wife of 
Captain Henry Abbot, of Andover, in Massachusetts. Her husband was a fine 
specimen of the commonwealths-men of those days. Mrs. Abbot managed her 
household affairs with great exactness and economy, but still with liberality. 
Not a crumb was lost, nor an ingredient misapplied. She had not a large family 
of her own, only two sons and a daughter; and the eldest son was not much at 
home, having been educated at Harvard University. But their large farm and 
mansion house was fitted up for boarders. Students of the Phillips Acade- 
my, to the number of half a dozen or more, were accommodated here. No fond 
mother could be more attentive to the health, morals, and habits of her offspring 
than Mrs. Abbot was to those under her care. The household affairs were all 
managed without bustle, that no boy might plead the excuse that he w*s inter- 
rupted in his studies by the noise of the spinning wheel or the churn. She and 
her husband were members of the Congregational church in the place, and were 
as regular as the holy Sabbath came, at divine service ; and every boy was re- 
quired to be in readiness to attend her to her place of worship; and there the 
slightest misconduct or neglect was noticed and reproved. Time passed on and 
seasons changed; but nothing" but death made changes in her arrangements. 
Mrs. Abbot was a woman of a strong mind, which was most admirably disci- 
plined; of excellent principles, of great equanimity of temper, and of fine 
health; always at or near home, ready for every care which her family de- 
manded. Such a woman was a good guide to youth; and she read their charac- 
ters at a glance. She ex ifced her boys to study, and felt as delighted as a mother 
when they won testimonials of improvement. On such occasions some little 
nicety was provided for them to show that she had an interest in their reputa-. 
t >n. She had the misfortune to lose her only daughter, when full grown, and 
just entering into life with fair prospects; but even this calamity did not dis- 
turb her composure. "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed 
be his name;" was all that escaped her lips under this bereavement. Nature 
had done much toward making her a woman of fortitude, but religion had done 
more. In the summer of 1833, at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years, she 
died. For a few years before her death she had been afflicted with blindness; 
but this did not change her temper. She said that the great Disposer of events 
had done all this to detach her from the world, and to teach her to contemplate 
the great change about to take place. If it gave permanent glory in Home to 
have educated two bright boys, what honor belongs to her, who had during her 
prilgrimage, more than two hundred under her maternal care, and all of them 
having cause for blessing her name. It requires wisdom to direct minds, and it 
is proof of virtue to have educated others to good habits. If the mothers of our 
country cannot boast of the glories of fashion, or their taste in the arte, it must 



28 NOBLE AND HEEOIO DEEDS 

be acknowledged that those virtues which give strength to principles and se- 
curity to society are eminently theirs. It is not in the higher regions of life 
that its value can be truly ascertained. The elevated must act for others as well 
as themselves; those depressed below the ordinary level of existence have seldom 
sufficient fortitude to see all the bearings of human duties. It is in the more 
common walks of society that the true nature of man is best ascertained; those 
who have neither poverty nor riches have few temptations. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

On the 17th of January, 1706, the subject of this sketch was born. At the age 
of eight years he went to a grammar school, but at ten his services were required 
in his father's business, and his education was neglected. He afterward became 
an apprentice in his brother's printing office, and a love for reading was gratified, 
often at the expense of half a night's sleep. He contributed some articles to his 
brother's paper which attracted attention, although the author was unsuspected. 
He became a skeptic in religion, and a powerful disputant. Leaving Boston, 
he went to New York, and from there to Philadelphia, where he soon procured 
employment as a printer. With promises of aid from Governor Keith, he left for 
London, to purchase printing material for the purpose of beginning business fcjr 
himself. The aid was withheld, and he was compelled to seek employment for 
a livelihood. By practicing strict economy he saved the greater part of his 
wages; and his influence among his fellow workmen against useless expenses 
for beer and other things was beneficial. At nignt he used his pen, and wrote 
strongly in favor of infidelity. In after years the early efforts of his pen in op- 
position to Christian ethics were looked upon by him with much regret. In 
1726 he returned once more to Philadelphia, again being employed by Mr. 
Keimer. His ingenuity was profitable to his employer, for he engraved devices 
on type metal, made printers' ink, and in various ways saved money to the es- 
tablishment. He subsequently purchased a newspaper, opened a stationery 
store, formed a literary club, and laid the foundation of the Public Library of 
Philadelphia. All the while he was becoming more popular in the province. 
The fact is demonstrated by the circumstance that by his personal exertions he 
obtained ten thousand names to a voluntary association for the defense of the 
province in 1744, when an attempt to procure a militia law had faiied. Frank- 
lin's electrical experiments, and the results of the same, are revolutionary in 
their nature; and by the coincident of an iron-pointed kite fiying in a storm, and 
similar points fastened to buildings, established the proof of his lightning-rod 
theory. During the whole period of the revolution he was continually active in 
a civil capacity at home or abroad. In the mind of Franklin the love for union 
assumed majestic proportions, and comprehended the great country back of the 
Apalachian mountains. "In less than a century," said he, with the gift of proph- 
ecy, "it must undoubtedly become a populous and powerful dominion." The 
freedom of the American colonies, their union, and their extension through the 
west, became the three great objects of the remaining years of Franklin. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 29 

Heaven, in its mercy, gave the illustrious statesman length of days, so that he 
lived to witness the fulfillment of his hopes in all their grandeur. 

On the 17th of April, 1790, that great philosopher, statesman and sage, was un- 
dressed for the grave; and beneath a neat marble slab, in the burial ground of 
Christ Church, Philadelphia, rest his mortal remains. In all his labors Frank- 
lin was ever actuated by an intense desire to promote the well-being and happi- 
ness of his fellow men; and few have been more successful in their aims. 
From poverty he rose to wealth, and from ignorance and obscurity to extensive 
erudition and honorable renown, gaining for himself the admiration of Europe 
and the gratitude of America. The one grand lesson and object of his life was 
not to shut his heart against private friendships. He loved his family and his 
friends, and was extremely beneficent. In society he was sententious, but not 
fluent; a listener rather than a talker; an informant rather than a pleasing com- 
panion. Impatient of interruption, he often mentioned the custom of the In- 
dians, who always remain silent some time before they give an answer to a 
question, which they have heard attentively — unlike some of the politest socie- 
ties in Europe, where a sentence can scarcely be finished without interruption. 
He made various bequests and donations to cities, public bodies, and in- 
dividuals. 



DAVID GLASCOE FAKRAGUT. 

"I have no volition in the matter; your duty is to give orders, mine to obey." 
So wrote Commandant Farragut to the secretary of the navy, in 1856, on receiving 
an intimation from him that if he would indicate his preference for a station, it 
would be granted. This sentence is a key to his whole public character, from 
his entrance into the navy as midshipman before he was ten years of age. He 
was born near Knoxville, Tenn., July 5th, 1801. His father was a native of 
Minorca, and came to America in 1776, when he became an active soldier in the 
continental army. His early life was passed on the frontier. Capt. David Por- 
ter took charge of him when he was between nine and ten years of age, and on 
December 17th, 1810, he was appointed a midshipman. He first served on the 
Essex, under Porter, and was with him on his long cruise to the Pacific ocean in 
1812-13. Porter entrusted him with the command of a prize to be taken into 
Valparaiso, while he was yet a little boy. "I was sent as prize-master to the 
Barclay," wrote Farragut in after years. "This was an important event in my 
life, and when it was decided that 1 was to take the ship to Valparaiso, I felt no 
little pride at finding myself in command at twelve years of age. He was en- 
gaged in the battle between the Essex and the Phoebe and Cherub, off Valparaiso. 
Capt. Farragut was put in a very delicate position on the breaking out of the 
civil war. By nativity and by marriage of two wives in succession, he was identi- 
fied with the slave-labor states. V/^en his country was assailed by its recreant 
children in the southern states, and scores of southern-born naval officers de- 
serted the old flag and joined the enemies of the republic, Farragut did not hes- 
itate a moment in choosing to defend the union, for he was a true patriot, owing 



80 NOBLE AND HEEOIC DEEDS 

his allegiance to the national government, not to the pretended petty sovereignty 
of a state. He took his family to a village on the Hudson River, and then went 
forth to give mighty blows against the dragon of rebellion. All through the four 
years' war that ensued he was the model commander wherever his flag was seen, 
whether on the Mississippi River or the gulf of Mexico, in his good wooden ship 
Hartford. He led in the expedition for the capture of New Orleans, and in 
efforts to make the Mississippi River free for the navigation of national vessels. He 
attempted to reduce Vicksburg, and took a conspicuous part in the attack on Port 
Hudson, the following year. For his services at New Orleans, and on the Mis- 
sissippi River above and below, he was thanked by congress, and placed first on the 
list of rear-admirals soon afterward created. He did gallant service on the coast 
of Texas, as commander of the Gulf squadron. His most brilliant achievement 
during the war was in Mobile Bay, near the close of the summer of 1864. 
Lashed to a position among the shrouds of the Hartford, where he could oversee 
and command his whole squadron, he boldly sailed into the bay, fighting a fort, 
gun-boats, and a powerful ram, and every moment in danger of destruction by 
torpedoes. One of these destroyed an iron-clad gun-boat just in front of the 
Hartford. She filled and sank in a few seconds, carrying down her commander 
and nearly all of her men. At that moment he felt that all was lost, but his first 
impulse was to appeal to heaven for guidance, and he prayed; "Oh, God, who 
created man and gave him reason, direct me what to do. Shall I go on?" And 
it seemed as if a voice in answer commanded him to " Go on 1 " and he cried out: 
"Four bells! Capt. Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed I" and victory was 
the result. 



A BENEVOLENT WIDOW. 

Several years ago, a poor widow had placed a smoked herring — the last morsel 
of food she had in the house — on the table for herself and children, when a 
stranger entered and solicited food, saying that he had had nothing to eat for 
twenty-four hours. The widow hesitatingly offered to share the herring with 
him, remarking, at the same time, " We shall not be forsaken or suffer deeper 
for an act of charity." As the stranger drew near the table and saw the scanti- 
ness of the fare, he asked, "Is this all your store? Do you offer a share to one 
you do not know? Then I never saw charity before. But, madam, do you not 
wrong your children by giving a part of your morsel to a stranger?" "Ah," said 
she, with tears in her eyes, "I have a boy, a darling son, somewhere on the face 
of the wide world — unless heaven has taken him away — and I only act toward 
you as I would that others should act toward him. God, who sent manna from 
heaven, can provide for us as he did for Israel; and how should I this night 
offend him, if my son should be a wanderer, destitute as you, and he should 
have provided for him a home, even as poor as this, were I to turn you unre- 
lieved away." The stranger whom she thus addressed was the long absent son 
to whom she referred ; and when she stopped speaking he sprang from his feet, 
clasped her in his arms, and exclaimed, " God, indeed, has provided just such a 
home for your wandering son, and has given him wealth to reward the goodness 
of his benefactress. My mother ! Oh, my mother I " 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



SI 




STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER. 



"He was one of the best men of his time, in the highest sense of t'-e 
term." When war was declared against Great Britain, in 1812, Mr. Van Rensse- 
laer having the commission of major-general, was placed by Governor Tompkins 
in command of the New York militia destined for the defense of the northern 
frontier. After the war, when in the federal congress, by casting his vote, he 
gave the presidency of the United States to John Quincy Adams. With that 
session closed the political life of this great man, but he still labored on and 
hoped on in the higher sphere of duty of a benevolent Christian. Like his Mas- 
ter, whom he loved, he was ever "meek and lowly," and "went about doing 
good." He did not wait for misery to call at his door; he sought out the chil- 
dren of want; to the poor and ignorant he was a blessing. In 1824 he founded 
a seminary for the purpose of " qualifying teachers for instructing the children 
of farmers and mechanics in the application of experimental chemistry, philoso- 
phy, and natural history, to agriculture, domestic economy, the arts and manu- 
factures. He liberally endowed it, and the "Rensselaer School " is a perpetual hymn 
to the memory and praise of its benefactor. In the cause of the bible, temperance, 
and every social and moral reform, Mr. Van Rensselaer's time and money were 
freely given, and in these labors he continued until death. 



KOBLE AND HEEOIC DEEDS 



ABIGAIL ADAMS. 



There are few lives that will bear the scrutinizing gaze of a critic to examine 
the evcry-day life and actions, as they are exhibited to the world around. 
Fewer still, that will admit of an examination of the inmost recesses of the 
heart, and permit all the hopes and feelings to be laid bare ; such a life, how- 
ever, was that of ^Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams. When the world 
is permitted to study such a life, it always concludes that "great minds like 
heaven, are pleased in doing good." 

Abigail Smith — afterward Mrs. Adams — was the daughter of Rev. William 
Smith, a Congregational minister, of Weymouth, Massachusetts, where she was 
born on the 11th of November, 1744. "It was fashionable to ridicule female 
learning," in her day; and she says of herself in one of her letters, " I was never 
sent to any school; I was always sick. Female education in the best families 
went no further than writing and arithmetic. ,, But notwithstanding her educa- 
tional disadvantages, she read and studied in private, and kept up a brisk cor- 
respondence with relatives, and by this means expanded and fed her mind, and 
cultivated an easy and graceful style of writing. Few women of the present 
day are so well acquainted with the standard English authors. The personal 
and mental accomplishments of this young lady attracted the attention and se- 
cured the affection of Mr. Adams, then a young man of distinction at the bar in 
Massachusetts. They were married in 1764, and resided in Boston. The first ten 
years of Mrs. Adams' married life were passed in a quiet and happy manner, her 
enjoyment suffering no interruptions except those occasioned by the short ab- 
sences of her husband when he attended the courts. In this period she became 
the mother of a daughter and three sons, of whom John Quincy Adams was 
the eldest. 

In 1778 Mr. Adams was sent to France as a joint commissioner. While 
he was absent from his country on that occasion, faithful to the call of duty, his 
wife remained at home and managed, as she had done Before, the affairs of the 
farm and household. And there let the reader look at her and see a picture of a 
true mother of the Revolution. "She is a farmer, cultivating the land, and dis- 
cussing the weather and crops; a merchant reporting price-current and the 
rates of exchange, and directing the making up of invoices; a politician, specu- 
lating upon the probabilities of peace or war; and a mother, writing the most 
exalted sentiments to her son." Those were perilous moments; the wise were 
baffled by the outlook and prospect of war; the courageous hesitated, and the 
great mass of the people were inflamed but confused ; they had no fixed and 
settled purpose, but all was left for the development of time. Mr. Adams was 
one of the boldest in the march of honest resistance to tyranny. To Mrs. Adams 
he communicated his thoughts freely on all the high matters of state, for he had 
the fullest confidence in her fortitude, prudence, secrecy, and good sense, with- 
out the test which the Roman Portia gave her lord, to gain his cofidence in mat- 
ters of policy, 'when the state was out of joint.' In the midst of her public 
cares and anxieties, she did not neglect her sacred duties as a mother. The care of 
the education of her four children devolved entirely upon her. This subject occu- 



OP MEN AND WOMEIT. S8 

pied much of her attention ; and, indeed, the greatest value of her pnblished 
correspondence consists in the hints which it gives us of the course of culture 
pursued in producing those glorious fruits, of which other generations have had 
the enjoyment. She carefully guarded against the contagion of vice at that 
period when the mind and heart are most susceptible to impressions. " I have 
always thought it," she says to her husband, "of very great importance that 
children should, in the early part of life, be accustomed to such examples as 
would tend to corrupt the purity of their words and actions, that they may chill 
witb horror at the sound of an oath, and blush with indignation at an obscene 
expression. These first principles, which grow with their growth, and strength- 
en with their strength, neither time nor custom can totally eradicate." Can we 
be surprised at the abhorrence which her "illustrious son of an illustrious 
mother" ever exhibited to oppression, when we find her thus expressing her 
sentiments in behalf of the oppressed, at a time when the subject of which she 
speaks had not excited any attention either in Europe or America? "I wish 
sincerely that there was not a slave in the province ; it always appeared to me a 
most iniquitous scheme to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing from 
those who have as good a right to freedom as we have." When Mr. Adams was 
chosen vice-president, she was the same unaffected, intelligent, and elegant 
woman. No little managements, no private views, no sly interferences with 
public affairs, was ever for a moment charged to her. When her husband be- 
came chief magistrate, the widest field opened for the exercise of all the talent 
and acquirements of Mrs. Adams; and her fondest admirers were not disappoint- 
ed. She graced the table by her courtesy and elegance of manners, and delight- 
ed her guests by the powers of her conversation. But this was not all ; her ac- 
quaintance with public affairs, her discrimination of character, her discernment 
of the signs of the times, and her pure patriotism, made her an excellent cabi- 
net minister; and, to the honor of her husband, he never forgot nor under- 
valued her worth. The politicians of that period speak with enthusiasm of her 
foresight, her prudence, and the wisdom of her observations. Tracy respected, 
Bayard admired, and Ames eulogized her; all parties had the fullest confidence 
in the purity of her motives and in the elevation of her understanding. Fatigue 
and anguish often overwhelmed the president, from the weight and multi- 
plicity of his labors and cares ; but her sensibility, affection, and cheerfulness, 
chased the frown from his brow, and plucked the root of bitterness from his 
heart. 

Peremptory denial produces enmity and confusion, but gentle evasion and 
cautious replies soften the hearts of the restless, and temper the passions of 
the sanguine. An intelligent woman can control these repinings and hush 
these murmurings with much less sacrifice or effort than men. Mrs. Adams calmed 
these agitations of disappointment, healed the rankling wound of offended pride, 
and left men in admiration of her talents and in love with her sincerity. Not- 
withstanding these numerous duties and great exertions, as the wife of a states- 
man, Mrs. Adams did not forget that she was a parent; she prided herself in her 
children, although 6he did not make the boast of Graechi. Many women fill 
important stations with the most splendid display of virtues, but few are equally 
great in retirement; there they want the animating influence of a thousand 



84 NOBLE AND HEBOIC DEEDS 

eyes, and the inspiration of homage and flattery; this is human nature in Its 
common forms and the exception is honorable and rare. From her husband's 
retirement from the presidency, in 1801, to the close of her life, in 1818, Mrs. 
Adams remained constantly at Quincy, cheerful, contented, and happy. She de- 
voted her last years in that rural seclusion to the reciprocities of friendship and 
love, to the offices of kindness and charity, and in short, to all duties which tend 
to ripen the Christian for an exchange of worlds. Her influence over Mr. 
Adams was remarkable, and she must have much of the credit of making him 
what he was. Mr. Adams himself wrote : " Upon examining the biography of 
illustrious men, you will generally find some female about them, in the relation 
of mother, or wife, or sister, to whose instigation a great part of their merit is 
to be ascribed. You will find a curious example of this in the case of Aspasia, 
the wife of Pericles. She taught him, it is said, his refined maxims of policy, 
his lofty imperial eloquence; nay, even composed his speeches on which so great 
a share of his reputation was founded." Mr. Adams had such a wife, and he 
owed his greatness to his Aspasia. The exalted patriotism and the cheerful 
piety infused into the letters she addressed to him during the long nights of 
political uncertainty that hung over the colonies, strengthened his courage, 
fired his nobler feelings, nerved his higher purposes, and, doubtless, greatly con- 
tributed to make him the right-hand man of Washington. Serenity, purity, and 
the elevation of thought, preserve the faculties of the mind from permanent de- 
cay, and, indeed, keep them vigorous in old age ; to such, the lapse of time is 
only the change of the shadow on the dial of life. The diligent and faithful 
Andromachs, the gifted and patriotic Aspasias of the Revolution, did their por- 
tion of the great work silently and unseen ; secretly they urged their husbands and 
sons to the battle-field, secretly spoke to them by letter in the camp or conven- 
tion, and secretly prayed for wisdom to guide our statesmen and victory to crown 
our arms. Thus privately acting, how little of their labor or their worth is 
known. How few of their names are treasured in our annals ; with rare ex- 
ceptions — like the builders of the pyramids — their initials are lost. Then, while 
we have the name and the noble example of Mrs. Adams — with a few of her 
patriotic compeers — let us pledge our unswerving devotion to Freedom, over the 
unknown names of the wives and mothers who secretly assisted in nerving the 
arm that broke the scepter of British dominion on these shores, and gave the 
eagle of Liberty a safe and abiding home on the mountain tops. She lived long 
enough to see the seeds of virtue and knowledge which she had planted in the 
minds of her children, spring up and ripen into maturity; to receive a recom- 
pense in addition to the consciousness of duty performed, for her anxiety and 
labors, in the respect and honors which her eldest son received from his coun- 
trymen. And " to live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die." 



JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE. 

A philanthropist, coming to our beautiful land for the purpose of perfecting a 
benevolent scheme which his tender heart and sound judgment had conceived, 
was James E. Oglethorpe. To him, in the annals of legislative philanthropy, the 



OF HEN AND WOMEN. 35 

honor isdue of having first resolved to redress the griefs that had bo long been 
immured from the public gaze — to lighten the lot of debtors. Touched with the 
sorrows which the walls of a prison could not hide from his merciful eye, he 
searched into the gloomy horrors of jails, 

" Where sickness pines, where thirst and hunger burn, 
And poor misfortune feels the lash of vice." 

While a representative in Parliament, in 1728, he was placed upon a committee 
to inquire into the condition of imprisoned debtors in Great Britain. His be. 
nevolent heart was pained at the recitals of woe that fell upon his ears. The 
virtuous and the good were alike cast into loathsome prisons. He submitted a 
plan for establishing a military colony south of the Savannah River, as a barrier 
between the Carolinians and the Spaniards in Florida, to be composed of the 
virtuous debtors then in prison throughout the kingdom. Here former poverty 
would be no reproach, and the simplicity of piety could indulge the spirit of 
devotion without fear of persecution from men who hated the rebuke of its ex- 
ample. A royal charter for twenty-one years was granted to a corporation "in 
trust for the poor," to establish a colony to be called Georgia, in honor of King 
George the Second. In the prosecution of his benevolent enterprise he crossed 
the ocean several times. Spanish jealousy finally becoming aroused, Oglethorpe 
built forts and protected his rapidly growing colony, and gave it permanency. 
When General Gage, who was governor of Massachusetts and commander-in-chief 
of the British forces in America, went to England in 1775, the supreme command 
in this country was offered to Oglethorpe. The merciful conditions upon which 
alone he would accept the appointment did not please the ministry, and General 
Howe was sent. He was eulogized by Pope, Dr. Johnson and Thomson, who 
regarded him as possessing the highest philanthropic virtues. 

The good faith of Oglethorpe in the offers of peace, his noble mein and sweet- 
ness of temper, conciliated the confidence of the red men, and he in turn was 
pleased with their simplicity, and sought for means to clear the glimmering ray 
of their minds, to guide their bewildered reason, and teach them to know the 
God whom they ignorantly adored. 

For the welfare of Georgia he had renounced ease and the enjoyment of for- 
tune to scorn danger and fare " much harder than any of the people who were 
settled there. He was merciful to the prisoner; a father to the emigrant; hon- 
estly zealous for the conversion of the Indians; invoking for the negro the 
panoply of the gospel. His heart throbbed warmly for all around him ; he loved 
to relieve the indigent, to soothe the mourner; and his name became known as 
another expression for " vast benevolence of soul." 



A TOUCHING SCENE. 

We need not seek among the select classes to discover the finest poetry of 
sympathy. Recently a gamin, who seemed to have no friends in the world, was 
run over by a vehicle on Gratiot Avenue, Detroit, and fatally injured. After he 
had been in the hospital for a week, a boy about his own age and size, and look- 
ing as friendless and forlorn, called to ask about him and leave an orange. He 



36 HOBLB AND HEEOIC DEEDS 

seemed mucli embarrassed and would answer no questions. After that he came 
daily, always bringing something, if no more than an apple. A week later, when 
the nurse told him that Billy had no chance to get well, the strange boy waited 
around longer than usual, and finally asked if he could go in. He had been in- 
vited to many times before, but had always refused. Billy, pale and weak, and 
emaciated, opened his eyes in wonder at sight of the boy, and before he realized 
who it was the stranger bent close to his face and said, with moistened eyes : 
" Billy, can you forgive a feller ? We was alius fighting, and I was alius too much 
for ye, but I am sorry I 'Fore ye die won't ye tell me ye haven't any grudge 
agin me?" The young lad, then almost in the shadow of death, reached up his 
thin, white arms, clasped them around the other's neck, and replied : '* Don't 
cry, Bob — don't feel bad I I was ugly and mean, and I was heaving a^stone at ye 
when the wagon hit me. If ye'll forgive me, I'll forgive you, and I'll pray for 
both o' us." Bob was half an hour late the morning Billy died ; when the nurse 
took him to the shrouded corpse, he kissed the pale face tenderly, and gasped : 
" B — did he say anything about— about me?" " He spoke of you just before he 
died — asked if you were here," replied the nurse. " And may I go — go to the 
funeral?" "You may." And he did. He was the only mourner. His heart 
was the only one that ached. No tears were shed by others, and they left him 
sitting by the new-made grave with heart so big that he could not speak. If, un. 
der the crust of vice and ignorance, there are such springs of pure nobility, who 
shall grow weary of doing good ? 



A HEROINE. 

If the average young lady is supposed to be luxurious and selfish, perhaps it is 
because she has never been put under trial in an emergency. At any rate, Lizzie 
McPherson entitled herself to a better verdict. A young lady acted the part of 
a heroine on Kearney Street, San Francisco, one evening, and what she did was 
all the more beautiful and brave because it was characterized by great presence 
of mind as well as extraordinary courage. The street was crowded with vehicles, 
and a woman and a child stood waiting at one of the crossings for an opportunity 
to walk over. Suddenly the child made a dart across the street and fell in front 
of a passing wagon. The young lady saw the dangerous position of the little 
one and acting on that impulse that is of more service at times than the reason- 
ing power, bounded to the rescue. The wagon-wheel was on the point of graz- 
ing the child's head. To have stopped to lift the little one would have been to 
lose the moment there was left to save its life. So she unhesitatingly put her 
foot in front of the wheel, and with her hands held on to the spokes until the 
wagon was stopped. The child was picked up unhurt, but her savior had her 
foot crushed, and from pain and excitement combined, fainted away when her 
deed of bravery was done. She was carried to a house in the neighborhood, and 
a physician attended to her injuries. When she recovered consciousness she 
was told by her brother that she had done that which might make her lame for 
life. Her answer was: "Don't scold. If I had hesitated a moment the child 
would have been crushed to death. The wheel would have passed over its head, 
and its only my foot that is hurt," 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



37 



POCAHONTAS. 



In every age and nation, rare in- 
stances of genius and benevolence 
have been found ; in the whole range 
of uneducated nations, no female can 
be produced that has superior claims 
to Pocahontas, the Indian princess, 
daughter to the sachem of Virginia, 
Powhatan. This princess was born 
somewhere about 1594. The first that 
was known of her was in the year 1607, 
when Captain John Smith came to this 
f* continent for adventures, and in exploring the 
country about James River, was taken prisoner 
by some of the warriors of the tribes under 
Powhatan. The prowess he had shown when taken 
j^was sufficient for their justification in taking him off, 
\ior he had been a wonder and terror to all his foes, 
^r A council was called, the stories of the white man's 
prowess told, and Smith made up his mind to die. 
Pocahontas was an interested listener in the council. 
Heroism and beauty have always an effect on the female heart. The gentle feel- 
ings of humanity are the same in every race, and in every period of life they 
bloom, though unconsciously, even in the bosom of a child. 

The manner of death decided upon for Smith was to be by beating him on the 
head with clubs while he was in a recumbent position, with a stone for a pillow. 
He was first bound, and then thrown down, and the clubs were uplifted, when 
Pocahontas, then a mere child, whose confiding fondness he had easily won, 
rushed forward and threw herself on the body of Smith, and protected his life at 
the risk of her own. 




1 The war club poises for its fatal blow, 
The death mist swims before his darkened sight ; 
Forth springs the child, in tearful pity bold, 
Her head on his reclines, her arms his neck enfolds." 



The impulse of mercy awakened within her breast, she clung firmly to his 
neck as his head was bowed to receive the strokes of the tomahawk. The bar- 
barians, whose decision had long been held in suspense by the mysterious awe 
which Smith had inspired, now resolved to receive him as a friend, and to make 
him a partner of their councils. They tempted him to join their bands and lend 
assistance in an attack upon the white men at Jamestown, and when his decis- 
ion of character succeeded in changing the current of their thoughts, they dis- 
missed him with mutual promises of friendship and benevolence. 

Some time after this, the savages becoming alarmed by witnessing Smith's 
wonderful feats, laid a plan to get him into their power under the pretense of 



38 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

wishing an interview with him in their territory. But Pocahontas, knowing the 
designs of the warriors, left the wigwam, after her father had gone to sleep, and 
ran more than nine miles through the woods to inform her friend, Captain 
Smith, of the danger that awaited him, either by stratagem or attack. At the 
age of seventeen or eighteen, Pocahontas married a pious young English officer 
named Thomas Eolfe, and went with him to England, where she was baptized 
and called Rebecca, and where she soon died. " It is not meet that such names 
should moulder in the grave." It was a barbarous life in which the little Poca- 
hontas was bred. Her people always washed their young babies in the river on 
the coldest mornings to harden them. She was accustomed to see her old father 
sitting at the door of his cabin regarding with grim pleasure a string of his ene- 
my's scalps suspended from tree to tree, and waving in the breeze. Such as her 
life made her she was— in her manners an untrained savage. But she was also 
the steadfast friend and helper of the feeble colony, and that is why her life is 
so full of interest to us. 



A YOUNG HERO. 

At the disaster which, not long since, destroyed the lives of many miners in 
the West Pittston mine, an incident occurred in which the heroic and pathetic 
are mingled. A boy of twelve years, named Martin Craghran, stood with a 
young companion on the carriage, waiting to be hoisted up from the mine out of 
impending danger, when it. flashed upon his mind that a number of workmen 
had not been warned of the terrible peril they were in. With a noble impulse 
of self-forgetful kindness, he resolved to rescue them if possible, and asked the 
other boy to go with him. This boy refused, and was safely drawn up — the last 
who was brought up unscathed. Martin rushed through the chambers and gal- 
leries of the mine alone, to carry the startling news to the imperiled miners. 
Then he hurried back to the shaft again, hoping to escape with his life. He 
waited for the carriage to descend, but the wire rope had melted, and the fire 
was now burning so fiercely above him that all hope of escape in that way (the 
only outlet) was cut off. He fled back to the miners again ; but experience had 
taught them the utter hopelessness of escape by the ordinary way, and they had 
built a barricade in Martin's absence, which afforded them a temporary protec- 
tion from the noxious gases and smoke that were slowly filling the mine. The 
barrier was solidly built, for upon the defense it afforded them against the smoke 
and gas depended the only chance that they had to live until the burning shaft 
was extinguished. Martin stood at the barrier and begged piteously to be ad- 
mitted. The few survivors who heard him say the little fellow cried. But to 
have made a passage-way for him Would have been death to all. So they were 
obliged to refuse him. After a little he went quietly away to the stable. He had 
been promoted to the position of mule-driver only the day before ; and now he 
went to his mule, and there wrote with chalk upon a piece of board the names 
of those who were dear to him, and then lay down beside his mule to die. His 
body was found close to that of the poor animal, which, in its death agony, had 
rolled upon him and wounded his breast with a portion of the harness. So died 
this little hero in the dark. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 39 



CATHARINE BROWN. 

It was a romantic country where this half-blooded Cherokee, for such was 
Catharine Brown, first drew her breath, and she seems to have acquired a nat- 
ural taste for fine scenery. In 1816 the American Board of Foreign Missions 
sent Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury to the Cherokee nation for permission to establish a 
school in their territory. This was granted, and a school opened at Chickamau- 
ga, within the territory of Tennessee. Catharine having heard of this school, 
although a hundred miles away, attended the same, where she soon learned to 
speak and read English words of one syllable. She was modest, gentle and vir- 
tuous, with a sweet and affectionate disposition. She was the most docile of all 
the missionary pupils, and her future progress was wonderfully rapid. In three 
months she had learned to read and write acceptably. This exceeds the progress 
of any one on record, in this or any other country. Having been baptized, in 
June, 1820, she undertook to teach a school at Creekpath, near her lather's 
house* She showed the greatest zeal in the cause of enlightening her country- 
women, for those of all ages came to learn something of her. She established re- 
ligious exercises in her father's house, and brought many to Christianity. She 
was not contented with the measure of information she had acquired, but in- 
tended to push her studies into higher branches of knowledge which she knew 
to exist, but while she contemplated these great things for herself and nation 
her health began to decline. The change from flying through the groves and 
paddling the canoe to such a sedentary life, which she must have led in acquir- 
ing so much knowledge in so short a time, would have naturally undermined the 
strongest constitution. In her sickness she discovered the greatest resignation 
and the most exalted piety. She had made a deep impression on her people, 
and they watched the progress of her disease with the most poignant anxiety. 
She died in 1823, aged twenty-three, and would have been, in the early ages of 
Christianity, ranked with saints and martyrs, and at this time deserves to be 
held in sweet remembrance. Catharine Brown must be ranked with Pocahontas, 
the loveliest daughter of the wilderness; both forming the highest proof that the 
children of the forest have talents, and strong and noble affections, and only re- 
quire instruction to rival those of the Anglo-Saxon blood. When we discover 
such talents and virtues in the aborigines, the philanthropist, as well as the 
Christian, mourns to think that this race of beings will soon disappear in our 
country, but we must console ourselves that the hand of God is in this. 



A PLUCKY CAPTAIN. 

The great plains of the West are occasionally visited during the winter with a 
"norther." Exposure to its full force is death to man or beast. The icy wind 
cuts like a knife. No clothing or fur coat prevents it from penetrating to the 
body and extracting every particle of dry heat. Animals, even the thickly cov- 
ered buffalo, fly before a "norther," and seek the protection of a wooded ravine. 
Many hunters and plainsmen, caught by these storms where there is no shelter 
of thicket or ravine, are frozen to death every winter. Once a company of the 



40 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

Second Cavalry was caught in a " norther." Nothing but the pluck of the cap- 
tain saved the men from freezing to death. There was no friendly ravine or 
thicket in which to camp. Their salvation was to keep moving. For thirty 
miles they marched in the teeth of a terrific gale and blinding snow storm. Each 
man, in turn, was made to lead his horse and open the way through the snow. 
Some of the men threw themselves into the snow and declared they would die 
rather than take another step. Orders, entreaties and threats availed not Lie 
on the snow and die they would, until the captain, belaboring them with the flat 
of his sabre, beat them into making an effort to march. The plucky officer 
brought every man safely into the fort 



THOMAS NELSON, JR. 

Self-sacrificing patriotism was frequently exhibited during the Revolutionary 
struggle, and oftentimes private property was cheerfully given for the public 
good. Everywhere personal ease and family endearments were abandoned for 
the hardships of public life. Thomas Nelson, jr., of Yorktown, Virginia, was of 
that class of patriots. He was educated in England, and upon returning home 
watched the progress of difficulties between Great Britain and her colonies with 
lively interest. He first appeared in public life in 1774, when he was elected a 
member of the house of burgesses, of Virginia, and he was one of eighty-one 
members of that assembly who, when dissolved by the royal governor (Dunmore,) 
met at the Raleigh tavern, organized, and appointed delegates to the first conti- 
nental congress. He was actively engaged in the drama of the times ; proposed 
organizing a militia for defense, was elected governor, sent to congress, and was 
a powerful auxiliary in the siege of Yorktown in the autumn of 1781. During 
that siege his own fine mansion, situated within the enemy's lines, was occupied 
by British officers. He observed that in the storm of balls which the besiegers were 
pouring upon the town and the British works, his own house was spared. He 
begged the cannoniers not to regard his property with favor, and actually direct- 
ed a piece himself so that the balls would fall upon the mansion. It had the ef- 
fect to drive the officers from that strong retreat, and no doubt hastened the sur- 
render of Cornwallis. A month after the surrender General Nelson heeded the 
warnings of declining health and retired to private life. The remainder of his 
days were spent in quiet, alternately at his mansion in Yorktown and upon his 
estate at Offley. He died at the former place on the 4th of January, 1789, in the 
fifty- third year of his age. 



DAVID BRAINARD. 

To leave the endearments of home and the pleasures of civilized life, and spend 
the strength of manhood among pagans, with the sole aim of doing good to the 
needy, is true heroism — an exhibition of chivalry worthy of the honors of knight- 
hood. Prominent on the list of such self-sacrificing champions is the name of 
David Brainard, eminent as a missionary among the Indians of our land. He 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 41 

entered Yale College in 1739, but was expelled for a very trivial offense. In 
1743 he began his famous labors among the Indians. He lived in a wigwam, 
slept on straw, and ate boiled corn, hasty-pudding and samp. Though feeble in 
body, and often ill, he persevered; and when, in 1744, his flock agreed to go to 
Stockbridge, he went with his glad tidings to his Delaware Indians. Among the 
New Jersey Indians at Crosswicks, he was remarkably successful. In less than 
a year he baptized seventy-seven converts, and the whole tribe became thorough- 
ly reformed in their morals. His health gradually gave way, and he was com- 
pelled to leave the field of duty, where his heart lingered. He became engaged 
in marriage to a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, in which family he took up his 
abode, and when his flower of life faded, and when the leaves began to fall in 
autumn, he fell like an apple early ripe, into the lap of the grave. He was but 
twenty-nine years of age when he died, in 1747, 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 

This honored American might well have said with Horace of old, "I have 
erected a monument more lasting than brass, which neither the winds nor the 
rains can destroy." For beside the perishable monuments that to-day keep 
green his memory, the famous instrument of the Declaration of Independence, 
of which he was the author, stands as an imperishable one. While yet a student, 
in 1765, he heard Patrick Henry's famous speech against the stamp act, and it 
lighted a flame of patriotism in young Jefferson's soul that burned brighter and 
brighter until the hour of fearless action arrived. He was a member of the Vir- 
ginia Assembly and of the continental congress. He was an excellent writer, 
and for this reason, among others, he was appointed to draft the Declaration of 
Independence. From the fullness of his own mind, without consulting one 
single book, Jefierson drafted the Declaration. He submitted it separately to 
Franklin and John Adams, accepting from each of them one or two verbal cor- 
rections, and then submitted it to congress. The Declaration was not signed by 
the members of congress on the day on which it was agreed to, but it was duly 
authenticated by the president and secretary and published to the world. The 
nation, when it made the choice of a day for its great anniversary, selected not 
the day of the resolution of independence, when it closed the past, but that of 
the declaration of principles on which it opened its new career. 

From about the beginning of 1779, when he was governor of Virginia, having 
succeeded Patrick Henry, until the close of 1780, the British and German troops 
captured at Saratoga were quartered in his vicinity, and he greatly endeared him- 
self to them by his uniform kindness. It was a most trying time for Virginia, 
and Jefferson, sagaciously perceiving that a military man was needed in the ex- 
ecutive office, declined a re-election and was succeeded by General Nelson, of 
Yorktown. After holding various public and diplomatic positions, in 1796 he was 
chosen Vice President of the United States, and in the spring of 1801 he took 
his seat as chief magistrate of the nation. With untiring perseverance he suc- 
ceeded in establishing that yet flourishing institution, the University of Virginia, 
and until the last his life was spent in pursuits of public utility. The latter years 



42 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

of his life were clouded with pecuniary embarrassments. He sold his library to 
the federal government in 1815, consisting of six thoitsand volumes. He survived 
that great sacrifice eleven years, and then his spirit took its flight, while his 
countrymen were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of the 
United States. It was a beautiful trait in his character that he was free from 
envy. A strange and striking coincidence closed the life of this great man and 
John Adams. Both expired on the same day, and at almost the same hour. 
They were both on the committee that framed the Declaration of Independence, 
both voted for that instrument just fifty years before; both signed it; both had 
been foreign ministers, and both had been presidents of the Republic they had 
helped to establish. Proud patriots they, and the nation still reveres their mem- 
ory. In the words of Webster, their great eulogist, " Their name liveth ever- 
more !" 



MARGARET PRIOR. 

The noble, self-sacrificing spirit of this woman will ever be commended. She 
was the mother of seven children, all but one dying during infancy. Subse- 
quently her husband was lost at sea. In 1814 she again married and moved to 
New York. Her husband, Wm. Prior, was a benevolent and public spirited 
man. We first find her in the more conspicuous " walks of usefulness " in 1818 
and 1819. She made arrangements with a kind neighbor to furnish soup to the 
destitute three times a week, and then began her work among the lowly. In this 
way it is believed that many were relieved from starvation. Notwithstanding 
her arduous public duties, she managed her household affairs with care, neat- 
ness and regularity. The time that some spend in fashionable and heartless calls 
she spent in industry and humanity. By rising early, working late, observing 
the strictest rules of economy, and subjecting herself, at times, to self-denials, 
she was able to visit the suffering. Passing through the suburbs of the city one 
day, her attention was arrested by the chime of youthful voices. Seeing that the 
music proceeded from some little beggar girls, whowere sitting in the sun be- 
side the fence and singing a Sunday school hymn, she inquired of them what 
they were doing, when the following dialogue occurred: " We were cold, ma'am, 
and are getting warm in the sun." " Where do you live ?" " In Twentieth street, 
ma'am." " Why have you come so far away from your home?" "To get some 
food and some things to make a fire." "Why were you singing?" "To praise 
God ; we go to the Sunday school, and our teacher says if we are good children 
God will never let us want." Pleased with the modest and artless answers to 
her questions, the good woman took them across the street, procured each of 
them a loaf of bread, gave them some pious counsel and left them with smiles on 
their faces and gratitude in their hearts. Such were the doings, such was the 
character of Margaret Prior. We see her organizing week-day and Sabbath- 
schools, industrial associations, and temperance societies, establishing soup 
houses, and orphan asylums ; visiting the sick, the poor, the idle, the culprit, the 
outcast ; pointing the dying to a risen Savior, leading the destitute by the hand to 
the place of relief, the idle to houses of industry, and warning the outlaw and the 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



43 



corrupt of the certain and terrible doom that would attend persistency in their 
downward course. With the sweetness, gentleness, simplicity and delicacy, so 
becoming in women under all circumstances, were blended in her character en- 
ergy that was unconquerable, courage that danger could not flinch, and firmness 
that human power could not bend. 




JAMES MADISON. 

In these times of political intrigue, when politicians for the most part, gain 
their ascendancy through bribes, a character pure and spotless, like that of 
James Madison, who could be an honest politician and yet gain power, presents 
itself as a model to the young men of to-day. He received a good education and 
early was attracted by political affairs. In 1777, after he had been a member of 
the State Legislature of Virginia, and other executive bodies, he lost the suf- 
frages of his constituents because it was alleged that he would not " treat w the 
people to liquor and could not make a speech ! Mr. Madison was again a mem- 
ber of the Virginia Assembly from 1784 to 1786, where he was the champion of 
every wise and liberal policy, especially in religious matters. After serving 
eight years as Chief Magistrate of the Republic, Mr. Madison, in March, 1817, re- 
tired to his paternal estate of Montpelier, where he remained in retirement until 
his death, which occurred almost twenty years afterward. He had married an 
accomplished widow, in Philadelphia, and with her, his books, friends, and in 
agricultural pursuits, he passed the evening of his days in great happiness. 



44 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



A TOUCHING ACT. 



Opportunities are few and seldom on a battle-field for parting tears or toucnea 
of tenderness. And yet scenes of carnage and fiercest human strife and passion 
have sometimes been lit by the sweetest gleams of piety, and Christian loving- 
kindness has appeared strangely hand in hand with the fierceness which takes 
the sword. One of the severest battles of the late civil war was that at Mt. Craw- 
ford, near Staunton, Va., June 5, 1864, generally known as the battle of Pied- 
mont. It resulted disastrously to the Southern cause, and fifteen hundred of the 
Confederates were taken prisoners, beside the loss in killed and wounded left 
upon the field. Passing over the ground in the path of the fight, a Union sur- 
geon found among the wounded a boy fourteen years old, who had been shot 
through the stomach. He begged for water, and when the surgeon had given 
him a drink from his canteen and examined his wound, he said, " Can I get well 
again?" The surgeon shook his head. The poor lad turned very pale, closed 
his eyes, a few tears trickled from the lids, and he seemed to be praying. He 
had been forced to join the army, he said, when he did not want to leave home, 
and now he could never see his mother and sister again. What would they do? 
A young Federal officer riding near the spot while the boy was drinking from 
the surgeon's canteen, had stopped his horse, deeply affected by the sight and 
Bufferings of one so young. The sadness of the little soldier when he first knew 
that he must die went to the young man's heart. He sprang from his horse, 
took the sufferer's hands in his own, and leaning his face lovingly against the 
face of the lad, soothed him as if he had been a babe, and then offered a prayer, 
that in beauty and yearning tenderness was like the prayer of a mother. Rising, 
the young officer laid a caressing hand on the poor boy's head, murmured a 
11 God bless you !" and hastened away where duty called him. The minutes of 
the little soldier's life were numbered, and he soon closed his eyes forever; but 
the gentle, Christian deed of one whom the fearful code of war called his enemy, 
had softened his hard bed of death. This young officer was Captain Meigs, after- 
ward Major Meigs, who was killed near Harrisonburg, Va. One loves to think 
that he and the sad young soul he once comforted have sought and found each 
other in the world where none who have prayed together on earth can ever 
again wear the uniform of mutual foes. 



MRS. FANNY RICKETTS. 

No page in the history of the late bloody war is so brilliant as that illuminated 
by a record of the noble sacrifices and exploits of heroic woman. Among this 
bright galaxy of noble women, the one whose name heads this sketch was fore- 
most in her unwavering and heroic devotion. In January, 1856, Miss Lawrence 
was married to James B. Ricketts, then a captain in the First Artillery, U. S. A., 
and immediately went with him to the distant south-western frontier of the Re- 
public, on the Rio Grande, where his company was stationed. When in camp, 
Mrs. Ricketts greatly endeared herself to the men of her husband's company by 
constant acts of kindness to the sick, and by manifesting a cheerful spirit away 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 45 

from the comforts and refinement* of American civilization. At the commence- 
ment of the war her husband's company was ordered back. Here military rules 
separated her from her husband, and from Washington she could only watch and 
pray, listening with heavy heart to the far-off roar. On the evening of July 21, 
1861, the dreadful news of her husband's terrible wounds and then his death, 
were announced to her. The agonized wife was plunged into an abyss of de- 
spair. Learning afterward that her husband was not dead, as yet, but still 
lingering, she procured permission to visit him, then a prisoner in the south. 
Proceeding as far as the enemy's pickets, she was stopped and delayed some 
time. Upon being required to sign a patrol that she would not act as a spy, and 
notwithstanding her extreme anxiety to avoid detention, she indignantly tore the 
paper into pieces before the officer's eyes, replying, "I am no spy, but the wife of 
a wounded officer, and will go as your prisoner, but never sign a patrol." De- 
manding a guide and passport she proceeded to the headquarters of General 
Joseph E. Johnston, and was directed to a house in the still blood-stained field of 
carnage, where her husband had been carried. In the court-yard of the house 
lay rows of the wounded and dead. Under the window she glanced at a fearful 
pile of human limbs, the accumulation of two day's amputation. Passing up 
stairs, amid the most harrowing and blood-curdling scenes, she found sii 
wounded men in a small chamber, five ranged along the wall on the floor, and 
one, more pallid than the rest, very still, on a bloody stretcher. This was hei 
husband ! At first he was unconscious, but at length feebly murmured in her ear 
" I knew you would come /" Though her husband's life was hanging as by a thread, 
so that a little neglect might be fatal to him, all night long she could not resisl 
the appeals that were heard all about her for water. She rose from the floor be- 
side her husband, and taking part of the small supply that a surgeon had brought 
for his hot and swollen leg from a spring half a mile distant, she groped hei 
way among the groaning and prostrate forms, moistening their parched lips. For 
two weeks Mrs. Ricketts remained with her husband in the house where she 
found him. The stench of the battle-field becoming so great, the camp was 
abandoned, and the prisoners removed to Richmond, where the situation, if pos- 
sible, was worse. Several times did the devoted wife plead against amputating 
her wounded husband's leg. Much of the time he lay unconscious, and for weeks 
his life depended entirely on the untiring patience and skill with which his wife 
soothed down the rudeness of his prison house, cheering him and other prison- 
ers who were so fortunate as to be in the room with him, and alleviating the 
slow misery that was settling like a pall upon them. Like a death sentence 
finally came the order that Captain Ricketts had been selected as one of the 
thirteen high officials who would be transferred to other quarters to be killed at 
any moment the news should be received that a similar number of Confederate of- 
ficers held in custody in the north were killed. With the dawn of the next morn- 
ing, brave Mrs. Ricketts addressed a letter to Mrs. Cooper, and thus the secreta- 
ry who had issued the fearful order including Captain Ricketts, was moved and 
issued a subsequent order, that "all the wounded officers had been exempted 
as hostages." Mrs. Ricketts' health was being undermined, and when the close 
of the year came they were permitted to leave Libby prison. Her husband was 
made brigadier-general. The battle of Antietam called her again to his side, as 



40 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

he was wounded in the same leg as in the former battle, by his horse being shol 
and rolling upon him. During all the summer and fall of the year in which the 
battle of Gettysburg was fought, she continued her labors among those who 
seemed most to require her attentions, her husband's health being recovered and 
he having returned to participate in all the battles in which his corps was engaged. 
At the battle of Cedar Run, General Ricketts received his third serious wound, 
which came nearer being fatal than any former injury. For four anxious and 
weary months she was hanging over his couch, and doing everything that love 
and skill could suggest to save _a life that had now become doubly precious to 
her for the sufferings and the anxieties which had been devolved upon both by 
the s^ern demands of the country. With the first boom of the deadly thunder at 
Manassas she had been called away from her life of joyous ease and peaceful 
love, and so long as the noise of that long war lasted she had known no rest nor 
intermission in her labors of womanly care and devotion. 



PATRICK HENRY. 

"Ceasar had his Brutus, Charles First his Cromwell and George Third" — 

" Treason, Treason ! " 

"If this be treason, make the most of it! " So exclaimed Patrick Henry in the 
Virginia Assembly when the obnoxious laws of taxation, coupled with an im- 
parative order to house and feed the British, was announced. Henry was the son 
of a Virginia planter, and was born on the 29th of May, 1736. He was not an 
ardent student, and his early years gave promise of a useless life. He married at 
eighteen, and passed most of his time in idleness at the tavern of his father-in- 
law, where he often served customers at the bar. Having utterly failed in farm- 
ing and in trade, he made an attempt at the law, and after only a month and a 
half's study, had the boldness to ask for license to practice. This was granted on 
the condition that he should extend his studies before undertaking to practice. 
His first effort was the celebrated Parsons case, which was a contest betwen the 
clergy and the state legislature, on the question of an annual stipend claimed by 
the former. Henry's eloquence, after a rambling introduction, electrified judge, 
jury, and people. The jury brought in a verdict of one penny damages, and the 
people took Henry upon their shoulders, and carried him in triumph about the 
court-house yard. Patrick Henry knew not fear; nor did his success conquer 
his aversion to the black letter of the law books. He loved to stroll through the 
forests, hunting deer for days together, taking his only rest under the trees ; and as 
he wandered about with his ever-ready musket in his hand, his serene mind was 
ripening for duty, he knew not how, by silent communion with nature. 

In 1769 he was admitted to the bar of the general court, and was recognized as 
a leader in legal and political matters until the Revolution broke out. He be- 
cimethe authorized leader of the people against the aristocracy. In the first 
continental congress, he was one of the delegates, and in that famous assembly 
he was hailed as the champion of constitutional liberty, and his wonderful elo- 
quence was at once recognized. At the Richmond convention, of which Henry 
was the moving spirit, his resolutions to organize the militia and put the colony t 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 47 

in an attitude of defense, met with great opposition. He replied in a burning 
speech, in which occur the memorable words : " There is no retreat but in sub- 
mission and slavery. Our chains are already forged; their clanking may be heard 
in the plains of Boston ; the next gale that sweeps from the north will bring the 
clash of resounding arms. I know not what course others may take; but, as for 
me, give me liberty or give me death! " Without an opposing voice the resolu- 
tions were adopted; and very soon afterward came the news of the battles at 
Lexington and Concord. Shortly afterward two regiments were raised, and 
Henry was appointed commander of all the forces to be raised. Washington 
nominated him for the office of secretary of state, in 1795, but Mr. Henry de- 
clined it. In 1799, he was only prevented from accepting a diplomatic position 
to France by feeble health ,and advanced age. A few weeks afterward his dis- 
ease became alarmingly active, and he expired at his seat, at Red Hill, in Char- 
lotte County, June 6, 1799, at the age of almost sixty-three years. 



HUMANITY REWARDED. 

Among" the early settlements of New Hampshire were several on the Pisca- 
taqua river, in the neighborhood of the present town of Dover. For a while the 
aborigines and the whites were fon amicable terms, and the former not unfre- 
quently paid the latter a friendly visit. On one of those occasions, a pappoose 
was suddenly seized with illness, and its mother was obliged to remain several 
days. She found shelter and accommodations with a widow, who received her 
cordially, and nursed the feeble infant as her own. Such kindness would not be 
forgotten, even by savages; and when, after the lapse of years, the bow was bent 
and the hatchet raised against the settlement where the widow resided, the In- 
dians placed a strong guard around her house; and, although the butchering was 
terrible, she and her family were unharmed. 



PHOEBE PHILLIPS. 

This remarkable woman, who died at Andover, in the year 1818, was born at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Mr. Foxcroft, a gentleman 
of wealth and high standing, who gave her a good education. To her intimate 
acquaintance with the faculty of Harvard University from childhood, may, in 
some measure, be attributed her elegant style of conversation, which sur- 
passed that of any one, male or female, in this country. She saw the subject 
under consideration in all its bearings, and clothed it in most felicitous language. 
There was no redundancy, no stint, no singularity — except that of supreme re- 
finement — nothing to excite surprise in her conversation ; but the most learned 
listened with profound admiration at her taste and skill in language. She was fond 
of her pen, and took delight in keeping up an extensive correspondence with 
literary and religious persons. She wrote with great ease and rapidity, in 
chirography at once plain as a printed page, and whose beauty was only exceed- 
ed by the thought it contained. She was married to Samuel Phillips, of Andover; 



43 ] NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

a young man at that period most zealously engaged in the cause of his country, 

anxious for its political prosperity, and for its advancement in learning; and h< 
found a most admirable coadjutor in his wife. During the dark period of thi 
[Revolution, he sat up until midnight with the females' of the household making 
garments for the poor destitute soldiers, and in scraping lint or cutting bandages 
for the hospitals. The sick in her neighborhood, of all classes, were inquired after, 
and everything that could administer to their comfort was sent from her hospitable 
mansion. The academy founded by her husband and his uncle was in the imme 
diate vicinity of her residence, and every pupil's health was a subject of her atten- 
tion. Devoted to religion with more "than the cloistered maiden's zeal;" she had 
not a particle of bigotry in her disposition, and one might have lived with her foi 
years without knowing her sentiment upon any particular point in divinity. Af 
her table — for her husband was so deeply engaged in politics and business, thai 
he left all of the household cares upon her — might be found almost every day in 
the week, clergymen who met nowhere else — from a difference in creeds — and 
persons of distinction in the various callings of life, and from different parts of 
the country. For more than forty years this hospitality was uninterrupted, and 
her cares unceasing. 

Her person was striking, tall above most women; her mein was majestic, with- 
out any awkwardness from her height; her features were prominent, but soften- 
ed by a fine, mild expression ; and her large, blue eyes were full of sweetness of 
temper, while they beamed with genius. There has scarcely been a single indi. 
vidual who ever knew her that had not some rememberance of her talents and 
virtues in his mind, and most of them could relate some acts of kindness to. 
ward themselves. She made no parade of attainments, but all her information 
seemed to flow in conversation, as though it were intuitive, and addressed to 
those in company as if she considered every one about her superior to herself 
in memory and reasoning powers ; in fact, in every attainment and gift. When 
others judged by a lesson, or a few recitations, she formed her opinion from 
some act or remark of the boy, which might have passed .unnoticed by others. 
With all her firmness of soul, she had a heart most feelingly alive to the mis- 
fortunes of others. Often "her pity gave ere charity began; " and she was dis- 
tressed even at the sufferings of the wicked. A lad seeing from her window a 
wretched looking man going to the whipping-post to receive corporal punish- 
ment for a petty larceny — sentenced by the justice of the peace to this igno- 
miny — strove to conceal a tear, but this excellent woman observed it. With one 
starting in her own eye, she said to him, " When you become a law-maker ex- 
amine the subject of corporal punishment, and see if it is not unnatural, vindiot- 
ive, and productive of much evil." In early manhood he became a legislator, 
and remembering the words which made a strong impression at that time, he 
called the attention of the assembly to the subject, and in the course of a short 
time had the satisf acton of announcing to her that the statute book had been 
expurgated in this respect, and that there was, in future, to be no more corporal 
punishment for any offense less than capital. After her husband's death she 
was on-e of the founders of the theological seminary at Andover, and took a deep 
Interest in the institution as long as she lived. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



49 



JANET McCREA. 

The fate of this young woman has excited the sympathies of the whole people 
of the United States. She was the daughter of James McCrea, a clergyman of 
New Jersy, who died before the Revolution. After her father's death Janet re- 
sided with her brother, at Albany, who removed to the neighborhood of Fort 
Edward. She was a young lady of twenty-three years of age, amiable, and well edu- 
cated. She was related to one of the American officers at Fort Edward, but, on the 
alarm given by the retreat of the American army from the lakes, she had left her 
home for a safe retreat in Fort Miller; but when the American forces thought it 
prudent to retire from that fortress to Vermont, see did not think proper to go 




with them, and returned to Sandy Hill, the place of her usual residence. Rumor 
after rumor soon reached her here of the approach of the Indians, and she 
knew not whither to fly. The whole country from the lakes was in great oon- 
sternation, and she set out for Fort Edward with some other females. Her 
fears were increased, for she felt no confidence in either side. She was on 
American ground, but was betrothed to an American who had taken sides with 
the British, and had gone to Canada, where he was made captain of a company. 
The lovers had managed to keep up a correspondence, and he was informed 
when he reached Fort Anne, that his inamorata was concealed in a house a few 
miles from Sandy Hill. To go there himself would be dangerous to both, as the 



50 NOBLE AND HEKOIC DEEDS 

woods were infested with scouting parties of American troups, and he, as a Tory, 
would have been harshly dealt with if taken by them ; but, to make all sure, he 
engaged a party of confidential Indians to take his horse and go to her place of 
concealment, and bring her to him in safety. The party reached the place and 
she received the letter. He urged her in his letter not to hesitate a moment in 
putting herself under their protection, but she had some sad misgivings. The In- 
dians had been a terror to that part of the country, and the tales she had heard in 
her childhood came quickly upon her distracted mind; but the voice of a lover is 
law to a confiding woman. She put herself under their guidance, and they had 
proceeded on their journey, she on horseback and they on foot, to near a small 
spring which may now be seen, when a dispute arose as to who should receive 
the reward, or how it would be shared. A quarrel ensued, in which one of them 
killed her by striking her with a tomahawk. Occasion was thereby given to in- 
flame the populace and to blacken the royal cause. The cruelties of the Indians 
and the cause in which they were engaged were associated together, and presented 
in one view to the alarmed inhabitants. This massacre was probably no more 
horrible than many others ; but it was susceptible of embellishment, and every- 
where produced a deep impression. Many patriots were led to join the army, 
and many royalists to desert a cause which permitted such atrocities. Some one 
of the Indians, with their usual regard to truth, made her lover acquainted with 
the facts, and another proved his assertions by exhibiting the scalp. He knew 
the long golden tresses of Miss McCrea, and in defiance of all danger flew to the 
spot to realize the horrid tale. He tore away the thinly spread leaves and earth, 
clasped the still bleeding body in his arms, and wrapping it in his cloak bore it 
to the first wagon he could find, and there hid it from the sight of the world un- 
til he could dispose of it according to his affections. The driver was bribed to 
silence. The lover sat by the wagon all night in a state but little short of a 
quiet delirium, now and then arousing himself to a furious determination to im- 
molate the first Indian he could find ; but they were all in their lairs. The 
morning sun arose, and the wagon went on, he having determined to take the 
corpse on with him to some spot hallowed by the graves of others, and there de- 
posit the sacred relic of the beloved of his soul. But his neglect of duty and 
strange demeanor, caused him to be watched by his superior officers, who heard 
something of the rumor, and they discovered the secret that the corpse of Miss 
McCrea was in the wagon. They instantly ordered the wagon to stop, and the 
corpse to be buried by the wayside ; kindly allowing Captain Jones to stay a few 
moments, "to see her decent limbs composed," and laid in the bosom of the 
earth, a coffin having been procured. The grave is about four miles from Fort 
Edward. Captain Jones, it is said, survived her but a few years; and this mel- 
ancholy event is supposed to have brought him to the grave. Perhaps the tragi- 
cal death of this amiable girl has given a degree of romance to her virtues and 
personal charms; but it is agreed by all who knew her, that she was amiable, 
virtuous, and accomplished. The tomahawk and the scalping knife have nearly 
become extinct as weapons of dread to the women and children of our favored 
country. To our primitive mothers they were something more than "air drawn 
daggers," creatures of the imagination ; for on their blade and gudgeon were 
often real gouts of blood. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 51 



ELI WHITNEY. 



Beyond all doubt or question, the invention of the cotton-gin, just at the close 
of the eighteenth century, was an event which most wonderfully accelerated the 
high career of the United States in an industrial point of view; and indeed, 
revolutionized, by an extraordinary impetus, the manufactures and commerce of 
the world. It may be regarded, in a word, as the first key which was applied to 
^the unlocking of those wondrous natural capabilities of the new born republic, 
the continued development of which has given her such a foremost place in re- 
spect to material and political power among the nations of the earth. Every 
labor-saving machine is a gain to humanity; and every inventor of such ma- 
chines is a public benefactor. High on the list of such worthies is the name of 
Eli Whitney, the inventor of the cotton-gin. At an early age he gave indications 
of that mechanical and inventive talent for which he was afterward so greatly 
celebrated. Having entered the college at New Haven at the age of twenty- 
three, he graduated afterward with high honors. Going to Georgia, accompanying 
the widow of General Greene, he was disappointed in securing the position of 
tutor that he had desired. Upon the invitation of Mrs. Greene, he made her 
home his residence. During an afternoon social gathering at the lady's house, 
his genius was aroused to its utmost accomplishments, upon the remark being 
made that the cotton and agricultural interests of Georgia were greatly depressed. 
The great trouble existed in the fact that there was no means of cleansing the 
green seed-cotton, or separating it from its seed. In response to suggestions 
made, Mrs. Greene, who knew of Whitney's ingenious turn of mind in the 
sphere of mechanics, naively remarked : "Well, gentlemen, apply to my young 
friend, Mr. Whitney. He can make anything;" and suiting the action to the 
word, she led them into the room where her tambour was kept, and exhibited it 
among other things as evidences of Whitney's singular skill. In a few months 
he had advanced so far and so successfully with his machine as to leave no 
doubt of his having achieved a complete triumph. The report of the invention „ 
spread very rapidly throughout the South, exciting intense interest. The ma. 
chine was examined with delight, for it would do the work of months in a 
single day. With it one man could do the work of a thousand. It opened a 
way to immense wealth to the southern planters. Whitney finally went to his 
native state, patented his invention, and, in partnership with Mr. Miller, com- 
menced the manufacture of machines for Georgia. Many infringement suits 
arose, his shop burned, and all its contents together with his papers. He be- 
came bankrupt; and the inventor of the cotton-gin, which has been worth 
hundreds of millions of dollars to the people of the South, never received suf- 
ficient income to pay his actual outlays and losses. He was treated unfairly by 
juries, especially everywhere among those who profited by his invention. Even 
Congress denied his application to extend his patent. Disappointed and dis- 
gusted with the injustice of his fellow men, Mr. Whitney turned his attention to 
other pursuits. For a time he manufactured fire-arms for the United States. 
He was successful in this departure as he also was in the choice of his excellent 
wife. He ultimately acquired a fortune — a strange but most deserved sequel to 



52 NOBLE AND HEBOIC DEEDS 

his hitherto checkered career. The progress and value of the cotton production 
in the United States, under the impetus given to it by Whitney's invention, may 
be characterized as simply prodigious; and, in the mind of the philosophic 
statesman and student, the story of the cotton-gin will forever weave itself, most 
intimately and wonderfully, with those great themes and events which make up 
the nation's history. After great suffering from disease, Whitney died near New 
Haven, on the 8th of January, 1825, at the age of fifty-nine years. 



MRS. E. E. GEORGE. 

When our present subject conceived the noble purpose of consecrating her- 
self to her country, and applied for admission to the sanitary commission, her 
age seemed against her, for she had reached that period in life which sug- 
gests the quiet of ""the fireside and the comforts of home, rather than a rude, 
changeful, and wearing succession of exhausting toils and midnight vigils. 

"True," she said, "I am old; but my health is good, and I am very desirous to 
do something for those who are every day exposing their lives for our country.*' 

She made frequent trips between Memphis and Corinth, with various hospital 
supplies and sanitary comforts for the men ; and although the cars were often 
fired into by the guerrillas and squads of confederate cavalry, she acted as 
though fear of death, while in the line of duty, was a passion that had no place 
in her calm and well regulated mind. During the battle at Jonesboro, she was 
dressing the wounded in a tent so near the front as to be in range of the enemy's 
guns; a shell from one of their batteries pierced the tent, and, exploding with- 
in a few feet of where she was standing, killed two wounded men. When asked 
if the circumstance did not somewhat alarm her, she replied, "No, I was not 
alarmed, for I looked upon it as simply the intention of Providence to test my 
courage." 

Her labors among the Indiana soldiers at Wilmington exhausted her, and here 
it was that this excellent lady finished her toils, and crowned her long and 
active career of beneficence by deliberate self -martyrdom. By day she was con- 
stantly occupied in superintending the manufacture of clothing for the naked ; 
at night she went into the hospitals, and depriving herself of sleep passed many 
of the hours of darkness in nursing the greatest sufferers. For more than two 
years she had taken only brief periods of rest ; she was advanced in years, and the 
peculiar form of typhoid fever which attacked the released prisoners for whom 
she so heroically labored, was in a high degree contagious. The death of this 
noble woman was sudden, while the preparations were in progress for taking her 
back to her home. Her martyrdom was prolific of great good, and she will long 
be remembered for her devotion. 



WILLIAM BARTON. 

For his noble protest against imprisonment for debt will the name of William 
Barton be revered. He was a worthy scion of old Rhode Island stock, and was 
born in Providence in 1750. In the war for independence we find him among 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 53 

the most daring of those who gave the British great annoyance after they had 
taken possession of Rhode Island. When onr snbject was lieutenant-colonel of 
militia, General Prescott, an arrogant, tyrannical man, was the commander-in- 
chief of the enemy in that section, and the people suffered much at his hands. 
In trying to get rid of him all plans failed, until Colonel Barton's plan was suc- 
cessfully executed. On a sultry night in July, 1777, Barton, with a few trusty fol- 
lowers, crossed Narragansett Bay from Warwick Point, in whale-boats, directly 
through a British fleet, and landed in a sheltered cove a short distance from 
Prescott's headquarters. They proceeded stealthily in two divisions, and se. 
cured the sentinel and the outside door of the house; then Barton boldly en- 
tered, with four strong men and a negro, and proceeded to Prescott's room on 
the second floor; the door was locked on the inside; the negro stepping back a 
few paces nsed his head as a battering ram, and the door flew open. Prescott, 
supposing the intruders to be robbers, sprang from his bed and seized his gold 
watch ; the next moment Barton's hand was laid on his shoulder, and he was ad- 
monished that he was a prisoner, and must be silent. Not allowing him to dress, the 
whole party returned, undiscovered by the sentinels of the fleet. Prescott's 
mouth was kept shut by a pistol at each ear. The prisoner first spoke after 
landing, and said, " Sir, you have made a bold push to-nigh t." Barton cooly re- 
plied, " We have been fortunate." Congress presented their thanks and an ele- 
gant sword to Barton, and in December he was promoted to the rank and pay of 
colonel of the Continental army; a grant of land in Vermont was also given 
him. In after years the land in Vermont proved to be an unfortunate gift; by 
the transfer of some of it he became entangled in the meshes of the law, and 
was imprisoned for debt for many years in his old age. When LaFayette was in 
the country in 1825, he heard of the situation of his companion-in-arms, paid 
the debt and set him at liberty. It was a significant rebuke to the American 
people. This brave man died in Providence, in 1831, at the age of eighty-four 
years. 



THE MOTHER OF PRESIDENT POLK. 

President Polk's mother, who died at Columbia, Tennessee, in the winter of 
1851-2, was a member of- the Presbyterian church, a highly exemplary Christian, 
and a faithful mother. The lessons which she taught her son in youth were not 
forgotten when he arrived at manhood, and had risen to the highest office in the 
gift of a free and sovereign people. A single anecdote will show the abiding 
recollection and influence of her teachings. 

A gentleman who once visited Mr. Polk at the White Honse, remarked to him 
that his respect for the Sabbath was highly gratifying to the religious sentiment 
of the country ; whereupon he made the following reply : " I was taught by a 
pious mother to fear God, and keep his commandments, and I trust that no cares 
of a government of my own will evar tempt me to forget what I owe to the gor- 
ernment of God." 



54 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



AMOS OGDEN. 

During the year 1771, the Penny mite and Yankee war was raging. In this Wyom- 
ing contest no braver man than Captain Ogden devoted himself to rendering the 
fortifications impregnable. In courage no way inferior to that of Ogden, the 
Connecticut Yankee party, in Captain Butler, had a commander skilled in the 
arts of war, and so thorough was the investment about Fort Wyoming, and so 
closely pressed, that not a man could venture out for fuel, food or water without 
being met by a volley. The" garrison, containing nearly one hundred souls, soon 
felt the pressure of actual want and the dread of approaching famine. Husband* 
ing his resources, however, in the most prudent manner, and in the darkness 
and stillness of night bringing up from the river sufficient water to last through 
the day, Ogden determined to hold out to the last extremity. But without aid, 
time must exhaust his provisions, and then to surrender would be inevitable. 
The descent of Captain Butler had been made with such secrecy and celerity that 
not the slightest notice of his approach had been received. To convey intelli- 
gence to headquarters opened the only avenue of hope, and Ogden, as the 
achievement demanded the utmost boldness, promptitude and wisdom, deter- 
mined to be himself the messenger. The deed alone was sufficient to immortalize 
any man, and stamp his name with the title of hero. A little past midnight on the 
12th of July, when all was quiet, one of the Yankee sentinels saw something 
floating on the river having a very suspicious appearance. A shot awakened at- 
tention and directed the eyes of every other sentinel to the spot. A volley was 
poured in, but produced no apparent effect; the thing still floating gently with 
the current the firing was suspended. Captain Ogden had tied his clothes in a 
bundle and fastened his hat to the top, to this was connected a string of several 
yards in length which he fastened to his arm. Letting himself noiselessly into 
the water, swimming on his back so deeply as only to allow his lips to breathe — 
the whole movement demanding the most extraordinary skill and self-possession 
— he floated down, drawing the bundle after him. As he had calculated, this 
being the only object apparent, drew the fire of his foes. He escaped unhurt, 
and when out of danger dressed himself in his drenched clothes, perforated with 
bullets, and with the speed of the roebuck, was, in three days, one hundred and 
twenty miles distant, over a most rough and inhospitable wilderness, where he 
apprised his friends of the state of affairs. The services of that man, we are 
sure, have never been justly appreciated, and we fear have not been fairly re- 
warded. 



THOMAS WILLIAMS. 

All the deeds of daring, manly heroism and noble defenses made during the 
Revolutionary struggle will never be known. To live, men and women alike 
not only were brave, but heroic in the highest sense of the term. The atrocities 
of the Indians were harrowing even to contemplate. The gallant defense of his 
father*! house, by Sergeant Thomas Williams, deserves to be especially recorded. 
On the day the fort was attacked, a party of Indians made an assault on the 



OP MEN AND WOMEN. 66 

house. The father, sick and confined to his bed, was unable to lend any assist- 
ance. Sergeant Williams, and a brother quite young, were the only persons ca- 
pable of offering the least resistance. Twice the Indians rushed up to the door 
and attempted in vain to force an entrance. Several balls were fired into the 
house through openings in the logs, one of which severely wounded the sick 
father. All this was accompanied by horrid yells, as if demons had visited the 
upper air. Having lost a brother the preceding fall, and belonging himself to 
the army, Mr. Williams knew his fate depended on his coolness and courage. 
He must base all hope on these alone. He had two guns, one of which the 
lad loaded while he fired the other. Watching his time, and taking careful aim, 
one of the Indians fell and was dragged away. Redoubling their shouts, the In- 
dians returned with brands of fire, but another discharge, which wounded their 
leader, finally repelled them, leaving Sergeant Williams victor, and his aged 
father and mother rescued from death. 



"THE LITTLE BLACK-EYED REBEL." 

Mary Redmond was the daughter of a patriot of Philadelphia of some local 
distinction, and had many relatives who were loyalists. These were accustomed 
to call her " the little black-eyed rebel," so ready was she to assist the women 
whose husbands were fighting for freedom in procuring intelligence. The dis- 
patches were usually sent from their friends by a boy who carried them stitched 
in the back of his coat. He came into the city bringing provisions to market. 
One morning when there was some reason to fear he was suspected, and his 
movements were watched by the enemy, Mary undertook to get the papers from 
him in safety. She went, as usual, to the market, and in a pretended game of 
romps, threw her shawl over the boy's head and secured the prize. She hastened 
with them to her anxious friends, who read them by stealth, after the windows 
had been carefully closed. When the Whig women in her neighborhood heard 
of Burgoyne's surrender, and were exulting in secret, the cunning little " rebel," 
prudently refraining from any open demonstration of joy, put her head up the 
chimney and gave a shout for Gates. 



COURAGE OF A COUNTRY GIRL. 

In December, 1777, while Washington was at Valley Forge and the enemy was 
in Philadelphia, Major Tallmadge was stationed between the two places with a 
detachment of cavalry, to make observations and to limit the range of British 
foragers. On one occasion, while performing this duty, he was informed that a 
country girl had gone into Philadelphia— perhaps by Washington's instigation — 
ostensibly to sell eggs, but really and especially to obtain information respecting 
the enemy ; and curiosity led him to move his detachment to Germantown. 
There the main body halted while he advanced with a small party toward the 
British lines. Dismounting at a tavern in plain sight of their outposts, he soon 
saw a young girl coming out of the city. He watched her till she came up to the 



56 NOBLB AND HEBOIO DEEDS 

tavern ; made himself known to her, and was about to receive some valuable in- 
telligence when he was informed that the British light-horse were advancing. 
Stepping to the door he saw them in full pursuit of his patroles. He hastily 
mounted, but before he had started his chargers the girl was at his side begging 
for protection. Quick as thought, he ordered her to mount behind him. She 
obeyed, and in that way rode to Germantown, a distance of three miles. During 
the whole ride she remained unmoved, and never once complained of fear, al- 
though there was considerable firing of pistols, and not a little wheeling and 
charging. 

STERLING'S BRAVERY. 

While the battle of Long Island was in progress, a brave officer named Ster- 
ling, with his regiment of Maryland, and one of Delaware, were at one time 
left alone in the field. For nearly four hours they had stood in their ranks with 
colors flying ; when Sterling, finding himself without hope of re-enforcement, and 
perceiving the main body of the British army rapidly coming behind him, gave 
them the word to retreat. They withdrew in perfect order ; twenty marines, 
who mistook the Delawares, from the facing of their uniforms, for Hessians, were 
brought off as prisoners. The only avenue of escape was by wading through 
Gowamis creek ; and this passage was almost cut off by troops under Cornwallis, 
who had advanced by the post road, and with the 2d regiment of Grenadiers and 
the 71st of Highlanders blocked the retreat at a house near the tide-mills, within 
less than half a mile of the American lines. Sterling had not a moment to deliber- 
ate; he must hold Cornwallis in check, or his whole party is lost; with the quick 
inspiration of disinterested valor, he ordered the Delaware regiment and one 
half of that of Maryland to make the best of their way across the marsh and 
creek ; while, to secure them time for this movement, he confronted the advanc- 
ing British with only five companies of Marylanders. His heroic self-sacrifice 
animated the young soldiers whom he retained with almost invincible resolu- 
tion ; they flew at the enemy with " unparalleled bravery, in view of all the 
American generals and troops within the lines, who alternately praised and 
pitied them. ,, Washington wrung his hands as he exclaimed: "My Godl 
what brave men must I lose this day!" They seemed likely to drive back the 
foremost ranks of the British ; and when forced to give way, rallied and re- 
newed the onset. In this manner ten minutes were gained, so that the Dela- 
wares, with their prisoners, and all of the Maryland regiment, but its five de- 
voted companies, succeeded in reaching the creek. Seven were drowned in its 
deep waters ; the rest got safely over, and were escorted to the camp by a regi- 
ment and a company, which Washington had sent out to their relief. Sterling 
and the few with him attempted to pass between Cornwallis and an American 
fort, but were beaten back by masses of troops. Pressed by the enemy in the 
front and the rear, attacked on the right flank and on the left, they gave up the 
contest. Most of them retreating to the right through the woods, were cut to 
pieces, or taken ; nine only succeeded in crossing the creek. Sterling himself, 
refusing to surrender to the British general, sought Yon Huister, and gave up his 
sword to the veteran. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 57 



A NOBLE EXPLOIT. 



During the year 1780, Thomas Bennett and his son, a lad, in a field not far 
from their house, in Kingston, were seized and made prisoners by six Indians. 
Lebbeus Hammond, who had been captured a few hours before, they found tied 
as they entered a gorge of the mountain. Hammond had been in the battle, and 
was then taken prisoner. He was a prize of more than ordinary value. No 
doubt could exist but that he was destined a victim to the cruelist barbarity. 
While on their march they met two parties of Indians and Tories, descending 
for pillage and murder upon the settlement A man by the name of Moses 
Mount, whom they knew, was particular in his inquiries into the state of the 
garrison and the situation of the inhabitants. To a request from Mr. Bennett, 
of the chief, to lend him an awl to put on a button, the savage, with a signifi- 
cant look, replied, " No want button for one night," and refused his request. 
The purpose of the Indians could not be mistaken. Whispering to Hammond, 
while the Indians went to a spring near by to drink, it was resolved to make an 
effort to escape. To stay was certain death; they could but die. Tired with 
their heavy march, after a supper of venison, the Indians lay around the fire, 
Hammond and the boy tied between them, except an old Indian who was set to 
keep the first watch. His spear lay by his side, while he picked the meat from 
the head of a deer, as half-sleeping and nodding he sat over the fire. Bennett 
was allowed to sit near him, and seemingly in a careless manner, took the spear, 
and rolled it playfully on his thigh. Watching his opportunity when least on 
his guard, he thrust the spear through the Indian's side, who fell with a start- 
ling groan upon the burning logs. There was not a moment to be lost. Age 
forgot its decrepitude. In an instant Hammond and young Bennett were cut 
loose, the arms seized, three of the remaining savages tomahawked, and slain as 
they slept, and another wounded. One only escaped unhurt The next day the 
captive victors came in with five rifles, a silver mounted hanger, and several 
spears and blankets, as trophies of their brilliant exploit 



KADY BROWNELL. 

The annals of our great war for the Union are not wanting in instances where 
the wife of the soldier has gone with her husband, experienced all the hardships 
of the camp, stood in the line with sword at her side, carried the colors into the 
thickest of the fight, and then when the bloody work was over, devoted herself, 
with the delicate tenderness of her sex, to mitigating the horrors of the battlefield. 
Such was the brave young wife of Robert S. Brownell ; such her bearing and her 
services on the plains of Manassas and at the battle of Newbern, where she was 
the heroine. 

After the colors were run down the flag mast at Fort Sumter, the First Rhode 
Island infantry was soon full to overflowing, having responded to the first call 
for troops. It had eleven full companies of one hundred each ; and as ten were 
enough for. a complete organization, a company of sharp-shooters was formed of 
the eleventh, and the wife of the orderly was made the color-bearer of the com- 



§3 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

pany. Not desiring to be a mere ornamental appendage to the company, she 
practiced with both rifle and sword until she became one of the best marksmen 
and swords-women, During one engagement word reached her that her hus- 
band had been wounded; she ran to the spot and found his injuries but slight. 
Going out where the dead and wounded were lying thick along the breast-works, 
to get blankets that would no longer do them any good, in order to make her 
husband and others more comfortable, here she saw several lying helpless in the 
mud and shallow water of the yard. These she helped up, and assisted them to get 
to dryer ground. From the middle of March to the last of April she remained in 
Newbern, nursing her husband, who for some time grew worse, and needed con- 
stant care and skillful nursing to save his life. When not over him she was doing 
all she could for other sufferers. Every day she contrived to save a bucket of coffee 
and a pail of delicate soup, and would take it over and give it out with her own 
hands to the wounded in the Confederate hospital. Her husband was finally re- 
moved to New York, but it was eighteen months before he touched ground; and 
then his surgeons pronounced him unfit for active service. As his soldier days 
were over, Kady had no other thought of anything more but the plain duties of 
the loving wife and the kind friend. 



A DEVOTED LOVER. 

Romantic indeed is the story of the Wisconsin girl, who, with a devotion 
ot which only woman is capable, followed her soldier-lover through four 
years of active service, in the late war, and at last closed his eyes in death in a 
Washington hospital a few days after Lee's surrender. Her name was Ellen 
Goodridge, and the brave boy she loved so truly was James Hendrick. He vol- 
unteered for three months when the war broke out in 1861, and was at the first 
battle of Bull Run. Receiving a lieutenant's commission, he enlisted for three 
years, and wrote to that effect to his parents, and also to Ellen. When she told 
her parents that she had made up her mind to go with her lover, and share the 
fortunes of war by his side, they were so incensed at what they considered her 
folly, that they turned her from their doors, and bade her never return. Going 
to Washington, she found young Hendrick's regiment, and obtained permission 
to remain at the colonel's headquarters and look after the cooking. They were 
in nearly every great battle that was fought in Virginia, and in the intervals she 
often went with him in skirmishes and raids; on one such occasion receiving a 
painful wound in her arm from a minnie ball. His health remained good till after 
the fall of Richmond. Then he became very sick, and was taken to Washing- 
ton, where she watched over his couch, bathed his hot forehead, read to him, 
wrote for him, and showed the most painful anxiety for his recovery; but all in 
vain. A day or two before he died, their marriage was solemnized by an Epis- 
copal clergyman. The occasion was inexpressibly sad, he writhing in the grasp 
of a fatal disease ; having survived all the great battles of the war, only to die 
and leave the noble girl who had been so true to him, broken-hearted, and a 
widow, and she almost wild with the terrible thought, that after giving up so 
much, and suffering so much to be near him, death would leave her only his 
name and a bleeding heart. 



&^07~MBN AND WOMEN. 59 



SPIRITED CONDUCT OF MRS. PHELPS. 

John F. Phelps, a loyal Missourian, residing near Wilson's Creek, when the 
bloody engagement took place in which General Lyon met his untimely but 
heroic [death, was absent from home at the time of the battle, in command of 
a Union regiment of Missouri volunteers. After Lyon's death the Union force re- 
treated to Springfield, leaving the body of their general in the hands of the 
enemy. Mrs. Phelps determined to rescue it and see that it had a Christian 
burial; it was reported also that some of the confederates had threatened to cut 
out the heart of the dead soldier and preserve it as a trophy. Arming herself, 
she went out on the field — appalling as it was with the dead still unburied — and 
stood guard over the body of the hero all night. When ordered to give it up, 
she fearlessly refused; and when they insisted she said they must sacrifice her 
before they could lay ruthless hands on the remains of that fallen hero. After 
daylight she made the proper arrangements, and removed the corpse to her 
house, where it was duly laid out. To furnish him a funeral pall, she cut into 
breadths and sewed together in a proper form a magnificent black velvet robe, a 
part of her own apparel. Though perfectly aware of her unprotected situation, 
the confederates surrounded the house in which the lifeless form of a gallant 
enemy was guarded by a solitary but heroic woman, and made the night hideous 
by savage screams, horrible oaths, and barbarous threats. In a short time, how- 
ever, they retreated, and the body of General Lyon was taken in charge by the 
loyal army, removed to Connecticut, his native state, and there interred with the 
fullest military honors. General Price soon after returned to the vicinity of 
Wilson's Creek, and called on Mrs. Phelps ; he was about to enter the house 
when she forbade his crossing her threshold. He remonstrated with her, and 
tried to cajole her by flattery and amusing talk; when he again spoke of coming 
in, she addressed him in these words: "General Price, you are a man at the 
head of twenty thousand troops. I am a helpless woman; you are armed; 
I am not; you have the physical power to take possession of my house ; if you 
ever enter here, it wiil be simply by reason of my weakness, not by my consent. 
I ask you, as a soldier, whether you will use violence in such a case?" Thus 
appealed to, Price did not insist, and whenever he came there, stood in the yard 
and conversed with the lady of the house through the open door. 



MRS. ISABELLA FOGG. 

On the last day of May, 1861, came the bloody field of Fair Oaks, after which 
there was a broad and unbroken stream of the wounded and sick pouring steadi- 
ly to the rear from the more active and warlike front; to these Mrs. Fogg admin- 
istered. When asked whether she was willing to go up to the front and labor, she 
replied promptly, "That is just where I would like to go." A branch of the 
sanitary commission was accordingly established two miles from the front; and 
during the long, hot days of June, Mrs. Fogg was here laboring throughout 
the day, protecting herself from sun-stroke by a wet towel worn in her hat, dis- 
tributing cooling drinks, food, and stimulants to the sick as they arrived in long 



60 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

trains from Fair Oakg, and as they were collected from all parts of the great 
army. Her labors continued until the close of war, when she was solaced and 
penetrated with deep gratitude to God that he so long preserved her health and 
strength to witness the triumph of the right, andj the dawn of peace, and the 
day when the patriot, no longer languishing in camp nor agonizing on the field, 
will not suffer for what woman in her tenderness can do for him. 



ANDREW JACKSON 

Perhaps the greatest measure of success always follows a determination of pur- 
pose. The guiding principle of Andrew Jackson was, " Ask nothing but what is 
right — submit to nothing wrong." It was an abiding principle in his character 
from his earliest youth until the close of his life. That noble motive was the 
key to his great success in whatever he undertook, and is worthy of adoption by 
every young man when he sets out on the perilous voyage of active life. He re- 
ceived a fair education, for his mother designed him for the Christian ministry. 
But his studies were interrupted by the tumult of the on-coming Revolution, and 
soon after the fall of Charleston the Waxhaw settlement became a terrible scene 
of blood in the massacre of Buford's regiment by the fiery Tarleton. Every ele- 
ment of the lion in young Jackson's nature was aroused by this event, and boy 
as he was, not yet fourteen years of age, he joined the patriot army and went to 
the field. One of his brothers was killed at Stone, and himself and another 
brother were made captives in 1781. The widow was soon bereaved of all her 
family but Andrew, and after making a journey of mercy to Charleston to relieve 
the sick prisoners, she fell by the wayside, and the place of her sepulchre is not 
known unto this day. He now entered a romantic and interesting career. 
Finally marrying, he occupied numerous positions of public trust and affluence. 
His administration as president was marked by great energy, and never were 
the affairs of the republic, in domestic and foreign relations, more prosperous 
than at the close of his second term of ofiice. The memory of this great and good 
man is revered by his countrymen, next to that of Washington, and to him has 
been awarded the first equestrian statue in bronze ever erected in this country. 

DEWITT CLINTON. 

From early manhood, the efforts of Mr. Clinton were directed to the elevation 
of his fellow-men. Throughout his long political career he was the earnest and 
steadfast friend of education and the rights of men. His powerful mind was 
brought to bear with great vigor upon the subject of legislative aid in further- 
ance of popular education, and also the abolition of human slavery in New York. 
Some of the noblest institutions for the promotion of art, literature, science and 
benevolence in that city were founded under his auspices. The two objects of his 
life were the advancement of his fellow-men and the establishment of a canal 
between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. This was finally established, and his 
most enduring monument is the Erie canal, whose bosom has borne sufiicientfood 
to appease the hunger of the whole earth, and poured millions of treasure into 
th« coffers of the State. 



07 MEN JUfD WOMBf. 61 



JOSEPH WARREN. 

Prominent among the Revolutionary patriots was the subject of the present 
sketch. When he died the patriot cause sustained a severe blow. Patriotism 
was a ruling emotion of his heart, and he never lacked boldness to express hi* 
opinions freely. He was extremely efficient in fostering a spirit of national lib- 
erty and independence among the people. His suggestive mind planned many 
daring schemes in secret caucus, and he was ever ready to lead in the execution 
of any measures for resisting the encroachments of imperial power. He delivered 
the first annual oration on the subject of the " Boston Massacre," in 1771, aud in 
1775 he solicited the honor of performing the perilous service again, because 
some British officers had menaced the life of any one who should attempt it. 
The " Old South" was crowded, and the aisles, stairs, and pulpit were filled with 
British soldiers full armed. The intrepid young orator entered by a window, 
spoke fearlessly in the presence of those bayonets which seemed alive with 
threats, of the early struggle of the colonies of New England, and then, in sor- 
rowful tones and deep pathos of expression, told of the wrongs and oppressions 
under which they were then suffering. Even the soldiers wept ; and thus the 
young hero, firm in the faith that " resistance to tyrants is obedience to God," 
triumphed, and fearlessly bearded the lion in his den. He was killed while urg- 
ing the American forces forward at Bunker Hill. Where his body fell the .great 
Bunker Hill monument now stands. Congress expressed its sorrow by resolu- 
tions, and its gratitude by ordering that " his eldest son should be educated at the 
expense of the United States." Congress also ordered a monument to be erected. 



MRS. THOMAS HEYWARD. 

The firmness of this lady is well worthy of admiration. An order having been 
issued for a general illumination, to celebrate the supposed victory at Guilford, 
the front of the house occupied by Mrs. Heyward and her sister, Mrs. George 
Abbot Hall, remained in darkness. Indignant at so decided a mark of disre- 
spect, an officer forced his way into her presence, and sternly demanded of Mrs, 
Heyward, "how dare you disobey the order which has been issued; why, 
madam, is not your house illuminated?" "Is it possible for me, sir," replied 
the lady with perfect calmness, "to feel a spark of joy? Can I celebrate the 
victory of your army, while my husband remains a prisoner at St. Augustine?" 
"That," replied the officer, "is a matter of little consequence; the last hopes of 
rebellion are crushed by the defeat of Greene; you shall illuminate." "Not a 
single light," replied the lady, " shall be placed by my consent, on such an occa- 
sion, in any window of the house." " Then, madam, I will return with a party, 
and before midnight level it to the ground." "You have power to destroy, sir, 
and seem well disposed to use it, but over my opinions you possess no control. I 
disregard your menaces, and resolutely declare, / will not illuminate" 



62 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



MBS. HETTY M. McEWEN. 

Nashville, Tennessee, was the only city in the seceding states that contained a 
large number of genuine Unionists, who had the courage to assert their senti- 
ments openly and in defiance of southern sympathizers. This fearlessness was 
as often manifested by women as by men. Th^ southern character, frank, ardent 
and uncaiculating, was never more aptly illustrated than by the high-spirited 
defiance with which they dared all danger and all criticism in manifesting fideli- 
ty to the Union. During the spring and summer of 1861, while Isham G. Harris 
and his co-traitors were plotting dishonor and disaster for Tennessee, and a ma- 
jority in the middle and western districts sympathized with him, there were a 
few in Nashville who frankly characterized his conduct in no measured terms, 
and advertised their sentiments by keeping the national colors always flying from 
their house-tops. Of these few, Mrs. Hetty M. McEwen was perhaps the most 
conspicuous, and her conduct in defense of the flag upon her house is truly 
memorable. She was born during the presidency of George Washington, and 
had six uncles at the battle of King's Mountain, four of whom wet that hard 
fought field with their life-blood. Her husband, Colonel Robert H. McEwen, 
fought under Jackson at Horseshoe, and his father was a surgeon in the Revolu- 
tionary army. She could remember the time when there was no Tennesseean 
that did not live in a log cabin, no preacher that did not take his rifle into the 
pulpit with him as regularly as his Bible, and was as familiar with one as 
with the other. When secession was talked of, with her own fingers she stitched 
together the folds of bunting, and reared the red, white and hlae on a flag-staff 
in the yard of the residence that had been known as theirs almost from the time 
when Nashville was an Indian fort. As treason grew less and less odious, the 
flag was subjected to various insults. Boys threw stones at it. The papers no- 
ticed it, and advised its removal. Colonel McEwen received an anonymous let- 
ter full of plantation venom, and threatening assassination unless the odious col- 
ors were removed. When at length the machinations of Governor Harris culmi- 
nated, and Tennessee was made to appear of secession preferences by forty thou- 
sand majority, Colonel McEwen fastened a pole into one of his chimneys, and 
nailed the national colors where they could float solitary, yet dauntless and de- 
fiant, over the rebellion-cursed city. The hostility now became fiercer than ever. 
He was told that the flag must come down from the roof if they had to fire the 
house to bring it down. He asked his wife what they had better do about the 
flag, adding that he would sustain her in any course she thought best to adopt. 
" Load me the shot gun, Colonel McEwen," said the heroic old lady. And he 
loaded it for her with sixteen buckshots in each barrel. "Now," added she, "I 
will take the responsibility of guarding that flag. Whoever attempts to pass my 
door on their way to the roof for that star-spangled banner, under which my four 
uncles fell at King's Mountain, must go over my dead body," Not long after, 
Governor Harris issued an order for all fire-arms to be brought to him at the 
state house, and enforced it by sending a squad of soldiers to Colonel McEwen's 
house. In reply to their demands, she said, " Go tell your master, the governor, 
that I will not surrender my gun to any one but himself, and if he wants it, to 
come in person and risk the circumstances," 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



AN INSTANCE OF SELF-SACRIFICE. 

When the lines of field works were being established around the national cap- 
ital, the military engineers in charge of their location came upon a lovely spot 
near Bladensburg, Maryland. A tasteful cottage home, standing on the verge of 
a gentle slope, was surrounded by orchard shade trees, grape-vines, a charming 
flower garden, a lawn of exquisite smoothness, and " shrubberies that a Shen- 
stone might have envied." This little paradise was the residence of a lady and 
her daughters, whose husband and father was away fighting under the Union 
flag. The formation of the country was such as to require the line of earth- 
works to pass directly through these beautiful grounds and gardens. The posi- 
tion commands the country around for miles, and was the proper place for a bat- 
tery. Yet the officers saw at a glance that the planting of guns on the hill would 
make terrible havoc of that charming rural home. Every tree in the orchard 
must come down, the shrubbery be torn away, a wide ditch cut through the flower 
garden, and the whole place, in fact, desolated and ruined. Other lines were 
run in the hope of avoiding this hill entirely, but in vain. No other eminence 
afforded such a tactical position, and to neglect it might be to throw the advant- 
age thus afforded into the hands of the enemy. It became the unpleasant duty 
of the officers in charge of the survey to call on the lady and inform her of the 
military necessity that demanded the mutilation of her grounds, and the destruc- 
tion of all that was loveliest on the premises. They stated their conclusion in as 
delicate a manner as possible, and told her how they had hoped to avoid an oc- 
cupation of her land. She heard their statements in silence, arose, walked to 
the window, and gazed for a few moments on the tender lawn and the blooming 
garden. Then, with tearful eyes, she turned to the engineer and said, " If it 
must be so, take it freely. I had hoped to live here in peace and quiet, and 
never to leave this sweet spot, which my husband has taken so much delight in 
making beautiful. But if my country demands it, take it freely. You have my 
consent." When the women of Tyre cut their long hair and braided it into bow- 
strings for the archers on the walls of the besieged city, their devotion was no^ 
greater than was here shown by the patriotic lady of Bladensburg. 



BENJAMIN PIERCE. 

The career of Benjamin Pierce, the father of the fourteenth President of the 
United States, affords a noble example of true manhood in private and public 
life, which the young men of our republic ought to study and imitate. It is 
an example of perseverance in well-doing for self, friends, and country, being 
rewarded by a conscience void of offense, a long life, and the love and honor of 
fellow-men. In these lies hidden the priceless pearl of earthly happiness. 

He was left fatherless at the age of six years, and was placed under the guard- 
ianship of a paternal uncle. His opportunities for education were small, but the 
lad, possessing a naturally vigorous intellect, improved those opportunities with 
parsimonious assiduity.- His body was invigorated by farm labor; and when, at 
the age of seventeen years, the first gun of the Revolution at Lexington echoed 



6£ NOBLE AND HEROIC DEBDg 

among the New England hills, and he armed for the battle-fields of freedom, 
young Pierce was fitted, morally and physically, for a soldier of the truest stamp. 
He hastened to Lexington, pushed on to Cambridge, and six days after the re- 
treat of the British troops from Concord he was enrolled in Captain Ford's 
company as a regular soldier. He fought bravely on Breed's Hill seven weeks 
afterward ; was faithful in camp and on guard until the British were driven from 
Boston in the spring of 1776 ; followed the fortunes of Washington during the 
ensuing campaigns of that year, and was orderly sergeant of his company before 
he was twenty years of age, in the glorious conflict which resulted in the cap- 
ture of Burgoyne at Saratoga, in the autumn of 1777. His valor there won for 
him the commission of ensign. The young man who bore that commission and 
the American flag, in the hottest of the fight, was killed. Young Pierce rushed 
forward, seized the banner, and bore it triumphantly to the American lines, 
amid the shouts of his companions. The war left young Pierce as it found him, 
a true patriot, but penniless, for the Continental paper-money in which he had 
been paid had become worthless. Yet he was rich in the glorious experience 
of endurance under hardships ; and entering the service of a large landholder, 
it was not long before he owned a small tract of land in the southern part of 
Hillsborough, New Hampshire, whereon he built a log hut, and commenced 
a clearing, in the spring of 1786. He was unmarried, and lived alone. Labor 
sweetened his coarse food and deepened his slumbers. He cultivated social re- 
lations with the scattered population around him ; and in the autumn of 1786 
the governor of New Hampshire appointed him brigade-major of his district; 
His public services were of the highest order. We cannot too reverently cher- 
ish the rememberance of such a man. 



BRAVE MRS. HURD. 

When the call " to arms " was heard throughout this vast land in 1861, the 
troops of regulars then stationed along the western frontier, forming a line of 
steel between the treacherous Indians and the inhabitants of the plains and 
valleys, who came bringing with them the arts of civilization, were called to the 
East for active service. This gave rise to a series of atrocities and murders 
which recall the old story of Wyoming. 

About the 17th of August, a party of two hundred and fifty or more Indians 
proceeded to the agency at Yellow Medicine, and commenced an indis- 
criminate slaughter of all the whites. The marauders, flushed with success, 
pressed on with their work of death, murdering with the most atrocious brutali- 
ties the settlers in their isolated farm-houses. The story told by Mrs. Hurd is 
as pitiable as it is harrowing. Her husband had left her and her two children to 
go to Dakota; they were then living about one hundred miles west of Mankota, 
on the Missouri river; the Indians were plenty, but friendly. After Mr. Hurd 
had been away about two months the wife became very anxious. One morning 
about twenty Indians rode up to the house, and Mrs. Hurd recognized one of the 
horses as belonging to her husband when he started on his trip. The Indians 
went in and commenced to light their pipes and smoke ; Mr. Voight, * hired 



O* MEN AND WOMKJf. « 

man, carried the baby, who became frightened, into the yard, when one of the 
Indians shot him through the back. At this signal, ten or fifteen more Indians 
and squaws rushed into the house and began to destroy everything they could 
lay their hands on* The Indians told her to leave with her children, and they 
would not kill her; they accompanied her about three miles of the distance and 
then left her. For several days she wandered hopelessly about, not knowing the 
road, and having nothing with which to feed her starving and crying children. 
The cries of her offspring nerved her, and she went on. Coming upon a house, 
she promised them food, but it was tenantless and nothing could be found to 
stimulate their tired bodies. She says: To my great delight, however, I found the 
remains of a spoiled ham ; here, I may say my good fortune began. There was no 
more of it than a pound — and that much decayed — and I saved this for my boy, 
feeding it to him in very small quantities ; he ceased vomiting and revived rap- 
idly. About eight o'clock on the morning of the third day, I again set forth on 
my weary road for the residence of Mr. Brown, twenty-five miles distant, and 
reached it in two days. When almost there, two of our old neighbors overtook 
us, under the escort of the mail carrier; both of them had been wounded by 
the Indians, and left for dead. Arriving at Mr. Brown's house, we remained 
there ten days, living on potatoes and green corn. A party of twelve men with 
a wagon were sent to our relief, and we were made comfortable ; but the sad and 
sickening thought was now fully confirmed in my mind, that my husband had 
been killed in the general massacre of all the remote settlements, and my father- 
less children and myself left beggars. Our heroine bore her two children dur- 
ing a part of her fearful flight, but having been without food for nearly sixty 
hours, and all the time sustaining the little one on her arm by food from her own 
bosom was compelled to deposit half her precious cargo in the grass, and return for 
the other; thus, on the two days when she traveled, advancing twelve miles each 
day, herself walking thirty-six. Couldjthe force of nature go farther? Do our 
annals anywhere contain a more remarkable instance of the wonderful sustain- 
ing power which maternal love can inspire in the delicate frame of woman ? 



JOSEPH REED. 

In these days of bribe taking and giving, when political influence and power 
are so often purchased, the sterling words of Joseph Reed come to us: "I am 
not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of Great Britain is not rich 
enough to do it." These were the noble words which tradition attributes to him, 
when a bribe was offered for his influence in favor of Great Britain, in 1778. He 
was a member of congress when commissions came from England in 1778, to ne- 
gotiate a peace on the basis of submission of the colonists to the crown. It was 
to the agent of one of these commissioners that he is said to have addressed the 
words above quoted. The fact became known, and congress refused further in- 
tercourse with the commissioners. In 1778 General Reed was chosen president 
of the newly-organized commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and filled that station 
with great ability. Like all dutiful men, he was the target for unmeasured abuse 
from his political oponents; but when time dissipated the clouds of party 
rancor, all men beheld in Joseph Reed a patriot and an honest ; 



66 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



MARGARET E. BRECKENRIDGE. 



Self-sacrificing devotion to duty, and disinterested heroism, are always to be 
admired in either men or women. During the disheartening siege of Vicksburg, 
two ladies were standing on the deck of a steamer, in the rear of the beleaguer- 
ed city. One present chided the unusually slender figure who was foremost in 
her heroic self forgetfulness, by saying, "You must hold back, you are going be- 
yond your strength ; you will die if you are not more prudent." Instantly the 
dark eyes of our present subject glittered with the intense enthusiasm of her 
soul, as, with a voice of impressive earnestness, she exclaimed, "Well, what if I 
do ! Shall men come here by tens of thousands, and fight, and suffer, and die, 
and shall not some women be willing to die to sustain and succor them?" 

In April, 1862, Miss Breckenridge left her home in Princeton for the West, 
and with the full intention of devoting herself to the soldiers for the war. She 
labored in Baltimore, Lexington, Ky., and St. Louis, visiting the hospitals and 
performing like missions of mercy. 

" Ma'am," said a fair boy of seventeen summers, as she smoothed his hair and told 
him, with glistening eyes, he would soon see his mother and the old homestead, 
and be won back to life and health, " where do you come from ? How could 
you come way down here to take care of us poor, sick, dirty boys?" 

She said, " I consider it an honor to wait on you and wash off the mud you 
have waded through for me." 

Her attention in the wards was constant, even when death was lurking in her 
enfeebled system. With her little Testament in her hand, she went from one 
bedside to another, an administering angel to all there, cheering the desponding, 
encouraging the timid and doubtful. At twilight it was her custom to, sing 
hymns in the wards, and long after she had died her sweet voice was spoken of 
as a blessing lost by the sick and suffering. When the frail tenement of her 
soaring spirit was tottering, the greatest desire that she expressed was to 
recover, that she might lat)or till the war was over. Her memory is still 
fragrant among the soldiers and loyal people in the border states; she stirred 
them up to increased labor, and the mention of her name and allusion to her 
death bring forth tears from those who only saw and heard her once, for they 
loved her. 



BRAVE BOY SOLDIERS. 

Soon after the capture of one of the Confederate forts in the West, a lady went 
into the hospital where the wounded had been taken. She was much attracted 
by two young men, lying side by side, all splintered and bandaged so that they 
could not move hand or foot, but so cheerful and happy looking that she said, 
" Why, boys, you look very bright, to-day." " Oh, yes," they said, " we're all 
right now. We've been turned this morning." And she found that for six long 
weeks they had lain in one position, and for the first time that morning had been 
moved to the other side of their cot. " And were you," she asked, " among 
those poor boys who were left lying where you fell that bitter morning till you 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 67 

froze fast to the ground ?" " Yes, ma'am," they said, " We were lying there two 
days. You know they had no time to attend to us ; they had to go and take the 
fort." " And didn't you think it was cruel in them to leave you to suffer so 
long?" "Why, no, ma'am, we wanted them to go and take the fort." "But 
when they took it, you were in too much agony to know or care for it?". " Oh, 
no, ma'am !" they answered, with flashing eyes and faces glowing with the rec- 
ollections of that day, " there were a whole lot of us wounded fellows on the hill- 
side, watching to see if they would get the fort. When we saw they had it, every 
one of us that had a whole arm waved it in the air, and we hurrahed till the air 
rang again." 



MRS. ELIDA RUMSEY FOWLE. 

Just liberated from the famous tobacco house in Richmond, now known as 
Lilby prisou, and standing within shelter of the national capital, for the preserv- 
ation of which they had fought and suffered long, a band of dirty, haggard 
soldiers once stood, indifferent almost to their present surroundings. Presently 
a clerk from the navy department found his way among them, and inquired 
whether they would like to hear a song. " Oh, very well, I guess," was the some* 
what languid reply. He soon returned with a young lady, who sang the first 
stanza of ''Star Spangled Banner." Charmed by her powers, they formed a 
circle around her, and when those on the outside complained that they could not 
see, someone said, "Make a stand for her." Fifty knapsacks at once were 
placed in position, and she ascended, completing the national hymn. She saw 9 
mission before her. Whi\e she could not take the sword or bayonet, there was 
good for her to do in soothing, cheering and sustaining the soldiers. From that 
time on, till after the battle of Gettysburg, and near the close of the war, Miss 
Rumsey devoted herself to labors for the good, the comfort, the social, moral 
and mental well-being of the soldier. Near her father's house were located sev- 
eral hospitals. Upon these she was a constant visitor. On SabbatW afternoons, 
and often during the week, she, in company with Mr. Fowle and other Christian 
gentlemen, visited various hospitals and held soldiers' prayer meetings in differ- 
ent wards, singing the most familiar and widely-known songs of religious love 
and worship. The soldiers free library on Judiciary Square, in Washington, was 
established mainly through the efforts of Mr. Fowle and Miss Rumsey. At times 
Washington City contained as many as twenty thousand sick, wounded, or con- 
valescent soldiers. For these, papers, magazines, and all sorts of valuable and 
entertaining, yet moral books, were secured. In a little more than a year they 
distributed two thousand three hundred and seventy-one Bibles and Testaments, 
almost two thousand books and magazines, forty thousand tracts, thirty-five 
thousand papers, twenty-five reams of writing paper, nine thousand envelopes, 
and of " creature comforts," over three thousand shirts and drawers, great quan- 
tities of towels, sheets, gowns, slippers, wines and jellies. They also gave nu- 
merous concerts to raise money to erect the library building. Two concerts re- 
alized them about three hundred dollars. Both Houses granted ground for th€ 
erection of the proposed building. Other concerts were now given, and soon a 



68 



NOBLE AND HEKOIC DEEDS 



building sixty-five feet long, and twenty-four wide, was erected, and dedicated to 
the free use of soldiers. Before the close of the war there were six thousand 
volumes of good reading matter on the shelves of the institution. Just after the 
second battle of Bull Run, Mr. Fowle obtained an ambulance, and Miss Rumsey 
loaded it with some four hundred and fifty loaves of bread, together with a large 
supply of other necessaries. They left Washington and drove to Centreville, 
halting at a little building near the road, which was already almost full of 
wounded. The stacks of wounded were laid upon all sides of the room, and the 
blood which flowed from so many open veins ran down and stood in a crimson 
pool all over the middle of the room. Most of them nad eaten nothing for 
twenty-four hours. Having fed them she went inside to do whatever she might 
to relieve their sufferings. She was soon overcome with the ghastly sight, smell 
of blood and moanings of the wounded. Becoming unconscious, she fell over as 
helpless as those she was relieving. When she regained self-possession, .she 
chided herself — " To think that I have come all the way from Washington to bind 
up the wounds of these soldiers, and here the first case of running blood I see I 
have to become faint and helpless; I will go back and work, for I'm determined 
to accomplish something." A dying soldier, by whose side Miss Rumsey sat, 
said to her, " Will you, kind lady, write to Miss , to whom I have been en- 
gaged for the past two years, and break to her the sad news?" A few moments 
afterward he added, in a clear but faint voice, "Tell Denning," a wounded com- 
rade from the same town, "if he gets well, to tell my friends that I was wounded 
bravely fighting for my country, and die happy." A lasting benediction rests 
upon her work and labors. In the spring of 1863, after the completion of the 
sailors 7 free library, and as there was much less dem&nd for constant hospital 
labor, Miss Rumsey was united for life with Mr. Fowle, who labored constantly 
and most effectively with Miss Rumsey for the physical and moral well-being of 
the soldier. They had acquired a national reputation by their humane work, 
and their marriage was celebrated in the House of Representatives. The bless- 
ings this brave couple have done can never be estimated, but the lesson to us is 
"Go ye, and do likewise." 



BRAVERY OF MISS SCHWARTZ. 

In the summer of 1863 a party of guerillas went in the night to the house of 
Mr. Schwartz, twelve miles from Jefferson City, Missouri, and on demanding ad- 
mittance, were refused by Miss Schwartz, a girl of fifteen years. They answered 
that they would come in, and commenced breaking down the door. Five or six 
men, who were in the house, now ran out the back-door, taking with them, as 
they supposed, all the fire-arms. In their haste a revolver was left, which the 
heroic girl seized, and pointing it at the head of the leader of the gang, said, 
"Come on if you want to; some of you shall fall, or I will!" They then said 
they would kill her if she did not leave the door. She answered, "The first man 
of you that takes a step toward this door dies. This is the home of my parents, 
my brothers and sisters, and I am able to and shall defend it." After a brief 
consultation the ruffians left. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 69 



THADDEUS KOSCIUSCZKO. 



Although a foreigner, the deeds of this great man in America have been aucb 
as to naturalize him. In early manhood he eloped with a young lady of rank 
and fortune, was pursued and overtaken by her proud father, and was driven to 
the alternative of killing the parent or abandoning the maid. He chose the 
latter and went to Paris. He came, in the summer of 1776, to America, and pre- 
sented himself to Washington. "What can you do?" asked the commander-in- 
chief. " Try me," was the laconic reply. Washington was pleased with the 
young man, made him his aid, and in October of that year, the Continental Con- 
gress gave him the appointment of engineer in the army. In the Polish cam- 
paign against Russia, in 1792, Kosciusczko greatly distinguished himself; and in, 
the noble attempt of his countrymen, in 1794, to regain their lost liberty, he was 
chosen general-in-chief. Soon afterward, at the head of four thousand men, he 
defeated twelve thousand Russians. Invested with the powers of a military dic- 
tator, he boldly defied the combined armies of Russia and Prussia, amounting to 
more than one hundred and fifty thousand men. At length success deserted him; 
and in October, 1794, his troops were overpowered in a battle about fifty miles 
from Warsaw. He was wounded, fell from his horse, and was made prisoner, 
exclaiming, " The end of Poland I" 

In the summer of 1797 Kosciusczko visited America, and was received with 1 
distinguished honors. Congress awarded him a life pension, and gave him a 
tract of land for his revolutionary services. On the 16th of October, 1817, thafc 
noble patriot died, at the age of sixty-one years. His body was buried in the 
tomb of the ancient kings of Poland, at Cracow, with great pomp; and at War* 
saw there was a public funeral in his honor. The Senate of Cracow decreed that 
a lofty mound should be erected to his memory on the heights of Bronislawad ; 
and for three years men of every class and age toiled in the erection of that mag- 
nificent cairn, three hundred feet m height. The cadets of the military academy 
at West Point, on the Hudson, erected an imposing monument there to the 
memory of Kosciusczko, in 1829, at a cost of five thousand dollars. His mosi 
enduring monument is the record of his deeds on the pages of history. 



MRS. MARY W. LEE. 

This name will recall to the minds of thousands of our brave soldiers who 
fought in the Army of the Potomac, the face and figure of a cheerful, tender- 
hearted woman, herself the mother of a soldier boy, who for month after month 
moved about the hospitals of the army, a blessing and comfort to thousands of 
weary sufferers. When at one time the wounded were famishing from hunger 
and thirst, she found a sutler, who, with enterprise that would have been becom- 
ing in anything less purely selfish, had urged his wagon well to the front, and 
was selling at exorbitant rates to the exhausted men. She took money from her 
private purse and again and again bought his bread and soft crackers at his army 
rates. At last such repeated proofs of generosity touched the heart of the army 



70 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

shylock, and he was determined not to be outdone so entirely by a woman. 
About the third or fourth time she pulled out her purse he exclaimed, " Great 
God, I can't stand this any longer. Give that woman the bread !" The ice was 
now broken, and from giving to her, he began to give away, himself, till his last 
cracker had gone down the throat of a half-famished hero, and he drove away 
with his wagon lighter and tiis heart softer for having met a noble-hearted 
woman. Among the fatally wounded was one named Adams, from the Nine- 
teenth Massachusetts, whose brother brought him to Mrs. Lee, and said: "My 
good lady, my brother here will die, I think ; the regiment is ordered to Harper's 
Ferry ; will you promise to look after him, and when he dies to see that he is de- 
cently buried, and mark the spot so that I can find his body and take it on to 
our home in Massachusetts?" Mrs. Lee promised the heavy-hearted soldier that 
all his wishes should be respected, and he buckled on his sword and marched 
on to the front. A few days after he sought out Mrs. Lee, and she gave 
him a full account of the last hours of his brother and his dying words, and then 
taking him out among the thick and fresh heaped mounds, pointed out a grave 
better rounded than the rest, and distinctly marked, and told him his brother 
was buried there, and so he found it. Such was the fidelity and perfect reliabil- 
ity at all times and in all trusts committed to her. Sometimes, just as the hos- 
pital had become composed for the night, and the old campaign stove had grown 
cold for the first time in eighteen hours, an immense train of ambulance would 
come rolling in from the front, all loaded down with men, sick, wounded, dusty and 
famishing. There was no other way but to rise, and work, perhaps, till long past 
midnight. It was fortunate that with such willingness of heart, and such skill, 
nay, such genius, as she displayed for cooking under all the disadvantages of 
camp life, Mrs. Lee had also a robust constitution and excellent health, other- 
wise she must have broken down under the long-continued labors and sleepless- 
ness of that last grand campaign against Richmond. Into such womanly duties 
she carried the rich consciousness of having given herself up entirely, for three 
laborious but happy years, to the exercise of heavenly charities, and to the prac- 
tice of that mercy that is twice blessed. 



THOMAS MACDONOUGH. 

The bravery of the man whose name heads this sketch, was born of true cour- 
age, not of mere intrepidity, and he never quailed in the face of most imminent 
danger. He was one of the daring men selected by Decatur to assist him in 
burning the Philadelphia frigate, and he partook of the honors of that brilliant 
exploit. At the battle of Lake Champlain, on the 11th of September, 1814, Mac- 
donough played a very important part with his little squadron of four ships and 
ten galleys. Macdonough, by superior nautical skill and dexterity in the man- 
agement of guns, soon caused the British flag to fall, when Provost, in dismay, 
hastily retreated, leaving victory with the Americans on both land and water. 
When the British squadron appeared off Cumberland-head, Macdonough knelt 
on the deck of the Saratoga (his flag-ship), in the midst of his men, and prayed 
to the God of Battles for aid. A curious incident occurred during the engage- 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 71 

ment that soon followed. A British ball demolished a hen-coop on board the 
Saratoga. A cock, released from his prison, flew into the rigging and crowed 
lustily, at the same time flapping his wings with triumphant vehemence. The 
seamen regarded the event as a good omen, and they fought like tigers, while 
the cock cheered them on with his crowings, until the Brisish flag was struck 
and the firing ceased. His brilliant services and deeds were awarded by con* 
gress, and by the legislatures of several states. His fame was heralded far and 
wide. At about the close of the war, Commodore Macdonough's health gave 
way, yet he lived for more than ten years with the tooth of consumption under- 
mining his citadel of life. He was exemplary in every relation of life, and had 
but few of the common faults of humanity. 



NOBILITY OF CHARACTER. 

Perhaps no event in the history of our nation ever called forth such unexampled 
bravery aad nobility of character as the late Rebellion. It is said of one, Fred- 
erick Allen, from Kendall's Mills, who was very sick with typhoid pneumonia, 
and the doctor having administered stimulants, he refused to take anything con- 
taining alcohol, saying he had given his mother a solemn promise that he would 
not take any while in the army. No inducement could prevail until his father 
came down, and told him his mother released him from his promise, as she knew 
it was to save his life. He recovered health, and was in all the battles with his 
regiment. At Bristol Station he was ordered color guard, and the regiment cap- 
tured several guns. In the battle of the Wilderness he was wounded slightly in 
the arm and went to the rear, but returned very soon and received a severe 
wound in the head, being disabled for several weeks. Returning to his regi- 
ment, he fought around Petersburg, till again attacked by typhoid pneumonia, 
of which he died only a few days before Lee's surrender — as brave and noble a 
youth as ever shouldered arms ; a soldier of the cross no less than of the starry 
flag. 



PATRIOTIC DEVOTION. 

Among the many noble-minded and heroic men who fought in the late war, 
Major William F. Smith, of the First Delaware, was prominent. Wounded se- 
verely in the leg, he suffered amputation, and death followed. He had been se- 
verely wounded at Fredericksburg, and again at Gettysburg. When urged by 
his friends to expose his life less freely, " No," he would reply, " I am no better 
than any other soldier.' , They urged him to remember how much it would 
grieve his mother. " I know it," said he, " but I am no better than any other 
mother's son." When informed that he could not live, he thanked the doctors 
for the pains they had taken with his case: "You have done all that you could 
for me, but Providence has somewise end in view in overruling your efforts." 
His last words to his young brother were, " Kiss mother for me, Lee." 

Another who sealed his devotion with his blood, was Lieutenant-Colonel John 



72 NOBLE AND HEEOIC DEEDS 

A. Crosby, of the Sixty-first Pennsylvania volunteers. He had entered the serv- 
ice as orderly sergeant, was badly wounded in both hips at Fredericksburg, and 
afterward lost an arm fighting before Washington, in Early's last invasion. 
When his friends remonstrated with^him for keeping the field thus mutilated, he 
said, " My country has had my arm. She is welcome to my life." Before leav- 
ing home for the last time, he bade his wife and family good-by, telling them he 
should never see them again on earth. Those who knew him best, say that no 
better man or braver soldier ever died for his country. He fell in the last great 
battle of the war, before Petersburg, in April, 1865. 



JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 

Boldly emblazoned upon his escutcheon, as a youth and as a man, the 
guiding principle of Astor' s life was, "Be honest, industrious, and avoid 
gambling." Upon this solid moral basis he built the superstructure of his fame, 
and secured his great wealth. Likewise can every young man who has a high, 
noble, guiding purpose and aim in life. In all his mammoth business operations 
he was ever honest and honorable. His fur trade accumulated him mints of 
money, which at his death was magnanimously bestowed. The great bulk of his 
immense property, amounting to several millions of dollars, was left to his 
family. Before his death he provided ample funds for the establishment and 
support of a splendid public library in the city of New York; and he also gave 
a large sum of money to his native town, for the purpose of founding an institu- 
tion for the education of the young, and as a retreat for indigent and aged per- 
sons. The Astor Library in New York, and the Astor House in Walldorf, were 
both opened in 1854. They are noble monuments to the memory of the " mer- 
chant prince." 



MRS. JOHN HARRIS. 

At the very outset of the war, before the blood had commenced to flow in the 
long fratricidal strife, a group of ladies in Philadelphia met and organized a sys- 
tem of relief for the sufferings and privations which they knew must follow in 
the train of the war. If there were any such vain decorations of human appro- 
bation as a crown, or a wreath, or a star for her who in that war did the most, 
and labored the longest, who visited the greatest number of hospitals, prayed 
with the greatest number of suffering and dying soldiers, penetrated nearest to 
the front, and underwent the greatest amount of fatigue and exposure for the 
soldier — that crown or that star would be rightfully given to Mrs. John Harris, of 
Philadelphia. Mrs. Harris was at Savage's Station and Seven Pines while the 
fight was raging. Here in the primary hospitals and under the trees in the rear 
of the carnage, she took part in scenes and assumed duties which not often 
fall to her sex. Now she was soothing patients under the hands of the operator ; 
now preparing the minds " of great noble-looking men, officers and privates," to 
submit to the amputation of an arm or leg. Her woman's heart was much 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 73 

moved for a captain from Massachusetts, who pleaded very hard for his leg. " Oh, 
my wife and children," he would say, " it will kill them to see me so mutilated. " 
But it was of no avail. The ball had shattered his knee-joint, and amputation 
was unavoidable. So the chloroform was pressed to his mouth, and he was 
' taken insensible to the operating table. We find her at one time in Nashville, 
laboring with the same earnest zeal. Her system was taxed to the utmost, and 
finally gave way, and she was prostrated in sickness. Almost her last act of 
kindness to soldiers was bestowed upon the wretched victims of malignity that 
had staggered alive out of the infamous prison pens at Andersonville and 
Salisbury. When peace at last came, she went back again to her household, suf- 
fering constantly from a sun stroke received while laboring on the field at Sav- 
age's Station. But if the affectionate admiration of the thousands who saw her 
labors and were benefited by them, is precious — this admiration, this blessing, 
this reward she had to alleviate the weariness of her sick chamber. 



OLIVER HAZZARD PERRY. 

Always thoughtful, studious, and inquisitive on ship-board, our present hero 
soon became a skillful seaman and navigator. Early in 1812 he was placed in 
command of a flotilla of gun-boats in New York harbor. He soon became dis- 
gusted with that service, and solicited and obtained for himself and men per- 
mission to reinforce Commodore Chauncey on Lake Ontario. That officer im- 
mediately dispatched Perry to Lake Erie, to superintend the building of a small 
squadron there to oppose a British naval force on those western waters. When 
ready, Perry cruised about the west end of the lake, and on the 10th of Septem- 
ber, 1813, he had a severe engagement with the enemy. In the Lawrence — 
which displayed at its mast-head the words of the hero after whom she was 
named, -" Don't give up the ship " — Perry led the squadron, and after many acts 
of great skill and courage he achieved a complete victory. He was then only 
twenty-seven years of age. It was one of the most important events of the war. 
The victor was promoted to captain, received the thanks of congress and state 
legislatures, and was honored by his government with a gold commemorative 
medal. When, after cruising in the the Mediterranean sea, he returned to 
America and performed a deed of heroism equalto any achieved in the public 
service. His vessel was lying in Newport harbor, in mid-winter. During a fear- 
ed storm, intelligence reached him that a merchant vessel was wrecked upon a 
i£ef, six miles distant. He immediately manned his barge, and said to his crew, 
"Come, my boys, we are going to the relief of shipwrecked seamen; pull 
away!" and soon afterward he had rescued eleven half-exhausted men, who 
were clinging to the floating quarter-deck of their broken vessel. To Perry it 
was an act of simple duty in the cause of humanity; to his countrymen it ap- 
peared as holiest heroism, deserving of a civic crown. He lives in the hearts of 
his countrymen. Numerous monuments have been erected to his memory, one 
of which stands in the public park in Cleveland. 



74 



NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



ISRAEL PUTNAM. 

Heralds on swift relays of horses transmitted the famous war messages of 
April, 1775, from hand to hand, till village repeated it to village ; the sea 
to the backwoods; the plain to the highlands; and it was never suffered to 
droop till it had borne north and south, east and west, throughout the land. Its 
loud reveille broke the rest of the trappers of New Hampshire, and ringing like 
bugle notes from peak to peak, overleaped the Green Mountains, swept onward to 
'Montreal, and descended the ocean river, till the responses were echoed from 
the cliffs of Quebec. With one impulse the colonies sprung to arms ; with one 
spirit they pledged themselves to each other, " to be ready for the extreme event." 
With one heart, the continent cried, "Liberty or death!" In Connecticut, 
Trumbull, the governor, sent out word to convene the legislature of the colony 




at Hartford on the Wednesday following the celebrated battle of Lexington. 
Meantime the people could not be restrained. On the morning of the 20th, just 
succeeding the battle, Israel Putnam, of Pomfret, in a leather frock and apron, 
was assisting hired men to build a stone wall on his farm when he received the 
news. Leaving them to continue their task, he set off instantly to arouse the 
militia officers of the nearest towns. • On his return, he found hundreds who had 
mustered and chosen him their leader. Issuing orders for them to follow, he 
himself pushed forward without changing his check shirt he had worn in the 
field, and reached Cambridge at sunrise the next morning, having ridden the 
same horse a hundred miles within eighteen hours. He brought to the service 
of his country courage which during the war was never questioned, and a 
heart than which none throbbed more honestly or warmly for American freedom. 



OF MEN AND TT0ME2T, 75 



MOTHER BYCKEKDYKE. 

Perhaps the best idea of the nature and value of the labors of Mrs. Bycker- 
dyke, of Illinois, during the civil war, can be given from an extract of a letter 
written from Chattanooga, by Mrs. Porter — another noble laborer for the soldiers 
— soon after the battle there, She says: " I reached this place New Year's Eve. 
The next morning was very cold. The wind came sweeping around Lookout 
Mountain, and uniting with currents from the valleys of Missionary Ridge, 
pressed in upon the hospital tents, overturning some, and making the inmates 
of all tremble with cold and anxious fear. The cold had been preceded by a 
great rain, which added to the general discomfort. Mrs. Byckerdyke went from 
tent to tent in the gale, carrying hot bricks and hot drink, to warm and to cheer 
the poor fellows. 'She is a power of good/ said one soldier. ' We fared mighty 
poor till she came here/ said another. l God bless the sanitary commission/ 
said a third, l for sending women among ua.V' The soldiers fully appreciated 
"Mother Byckerdyke/' as they called her, and her work. 



MRS. MAY MORRIS HUSBAND. 

One of the many hundreds whom the subject of the present sketch nursed 
and blessed during her long career as a hospital matron and nurse, in speaking 
of the thorough and unostentatious heartiness of her work, said the soldiers 
could account for such unselfishness only from the fact that she is the grand- 
daughter of Robert Morris, of revolutionary fame. Hundreds of men, scattered 
all over the states, will always remember and revere her. In her labors she al- 
ways sought such places as were farthest from ready help, and where they would 
be of the most use. She never seemed to care for her own comfort, disregarding 
the requirements of her health, never leaving her self-imposed duties till sick- 
ness and exhaustion drove her home for rest and quiet, and while so resting, 
preparing supplies to be taken to the army as soon as she was again able to re- 
sume her duties. A New York soldier — a mere boy — sick with fever, was discov- 
ered also to have diptheria in its most malignant form. He was at once removed 
to a tent put up for the purpose, in a distant part of the grove, away from all 
others, and a soldier detailed as nurse, who, however, fearing the disease, neg- 
lected him. Knowing this, Mrs. Husband took charge of the patient, staying 
every moment that could be spared from the rest of the sick, for several days 
and nights, tenderly caring for him like a saint ; reading to him from the Testa- 
ment, and taking his dying message for his mother, "that she must not mourn for 
him, for he was willing and ready to die." She seemed to consider the soldiers as 
her children, and watched over them with as much tender solicitude as though 
they were her sons. She never appeared to think of herself; her thoughts all 
centered on the sick or wounded soldiers. She was only too happy to be of serv- 
ice to anyone in trouble. At one time she found a soldier sentenced to be shot; 
satisfied from what she could learn concerning his case that he was innocent of 
the charges brought against him, she set herself to work to save his life. Failing 
to make any impression at brigade, division, and corps headquarters, she, noth- 



AND HEROIC DEEDS 

ing daunted, carried her case to army headquarters, where she met only with a re- 
pulse, even from the kind-hearted Meade. Not yet discouraged, she resolved to 
make one more attempt, determined to save that young man's life. She went to 
Washington and finally carried her point.. This is but one instance of many 
similar aets. She undoubtedly saved the lives of many by her skill in dressing 
wounds, and her unceasing attention. Her popularity was not the reflection of 
another's fame. It was an outburst of unfeigned gratitude and real admiration 
which so many had long felt for a noble and accomplished woman, whose pa- 
triotism and humanity alone had impelled her, for year after year, to follow up 
the marches of our armies, on her ministry of love; to devote herself to the 
welfare of suffering patriots; to know nothing of home and its sacred comforts 
as long as one lonely or desponding soldier was languishing in a hospital ward. 



MAJOR SAMUEL McCULLOCH. 

Among the earliest settlers on Short Creek, not far from Wheeling, Virginia, 
was the McCulloch family, composed of three brothers, Abraham, Samuel, and 
John, and two sisters — the latter as lovely, devoted, and gentle, as the brothers 
were bold, brave, and generous. No men were more respected by their neighbors, 
or more dreaded by the Indians. At an early age, Samuel, the second son, dis- 
tinguished himself as a bold and efficient borderer. As an "Indian hunter ". he 
had few superiors. He seemed to track the wily red man with a sagacity as re- 
markable as his efforts were successful. He was almost constantly engaged in 
excursions against the enemy, or " scouting " for the security of the settlements. 
It was mainly to these energetic operations that the frontier was so often saved 
from savage depredation ; and by cutting off their retreat, attacking their hunt- 
ing camps, and annoying them in various other ways, he rendered himself so great 
an otejfect of fear and hatred. For these they marked him, and vowed sleepless 
vengeance against the name. 

During one of the many attacks and raids made by the Indians, McCulloch 
was foremost. At one time, at the head of forty mounted men from Short 
Creek, he made his appearance in front of the fort, the gates of which were joy- 
fully thrown open. Simultaneously with the appearance of McCulloeh's men 
reappeared the enemy; and a rush was made, to cut off the entrance of some of 
the party. All, however, succeeded in getting in except the gallant major, who, 
anxious for the safety of his men, held back until his own chance was entirely 
cut off. Finding himself surrounded by savages, he rode at full speed in the direc- 
tion of the lofty hill which overhangs the present city of Wheeling. The enemy, 
with exulting yells, followed close in pursuit, not doubting but that they would 
capture one, whom of all other men, they preferred to wreak their vengeance 
upon. Knowing their relentless hostility toward himself, he strained every 
muscle of his noble steed to gain the summit, and then escape along the brow in 
the direction of Van Metre's Fort. At length he attained the top, and galloping 
ahead of his pursuers, rejoiced at his lucky escape. As he gained a point on 
the hill, near where the Cumberland Road now crosses, what should he sudden- 
ly encounter but a considerable Joody of Indians, who were just returning from 






OF MEN AND WOMEN. 77 

a plundering excursion among the settlements. In an instant he comprehended 
the full extent of his danger. Escape seemed out of the question, either in the 
direction of Short Creek or back to the bottom. A fierce and revengeful foe 
completely hemmed him in, cutting oft' every chance of successful retreat or es- 
cape. What was to be done ? Fall into their hands, and share the most refined 
torture savage ingenuity could invent? That thought was agony; and, in an in- 
stant, the bold soldier — preferring death among the rocks and brambles, to the 
knife and faggot of the savage — determined to plunge over the precipice before 
him. The hill at this point is full three hundred feet in height, and, at that 
time, was in many places perpendicular. Since then the construction of the 
road has somewhat changed its features. The exact spot where the 
rider went over is close to a small house standing near where the t road cross- 
es. Without a moment's hesitation, for the savages were pressing upon him, 
he firmly adjusted himself in his saddle, grasped securely the bridle with hia 
left hand, and supporting his rifle in his right, pushed his unfaltering old horse 
over. A plunge, a crash — crackling timber and tumbling rocks were all that the 
wondering savages could see or hear. They looked chagrined, but bewildered, 
one at another ; and while they inwardly regretted that^the fire had been spared 
its duty, they could not but greatly rejoice that their most inveterate enemy was 
at length beyond the power of doing further injury. But lo ! ere a single 
savage had recovered from his amazement, what should they see but the invul- 
nerable major, on his white steed, galloping across the peninsula. Such was the 
feat of Major McCulloch, certainly one of the most daring and successful ever 
attempted. The place has become memorable as McCulloch's Leap, and will re- 
main so as long as the hill stands, and the recollections of the paat have a place 
in the hearts of the people. 



A BOY'S BRAVERY. 

The following account, taken from a communication of Major Nye, of Ohio, s 
well illustrates of what character were the boys of the great heroic age of the 
west. The scene of adventure was within the present limits of Wood County, 
Virginia : 

u I have heard from Mr. Guthrie and others, that at Bellville a man had a son, 
quite a youth, say twelve or fourteen years of age, who had been used to firing 
his father's gun, as most boys did in those days. He heard turkeys, he supposed, 
on or near the bank of the Ohio, opposite that place, and asked his father to let 
him take the gun and kill one. His father knowing that the Indians frequently 
decoyed people by such noises, refused, saying it was probably an Indian. When 
he had gone to work, the boy took the gun and paddled his canoe over the river, 
but had the precaution to land some distance from where he had heard the turkey 
all the morning, probably for fear of scaring the game, and perhaps a little afraid 
of Indians. The banks were steep, and the boy cautiously advanced to where he 
could see without being seen. Watching awhile for game, he happened to see an 
Indian cautiously looking over a log, to notice where the boy had landed. The 
lad fixed his gun at a rest, watching the place where he had seen the Indian'a 
head, and when it appeared again, fired r and the Indian disappeared. The boy 



78 HOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

dropped the gun and ran for his canoe, which he paddled over the river as Soon as 
possible. When he reached home, he said, * Mother, I have killed an Indian ! \ 
* No, you have not.' l Yes I have/ said the boy. The father coming in, he made 
the same report to him, and received the same reply ; but he constantly affirmed it 
was even so. As the gun was left, a party took the boy over the river to find it, 
and see the place where he shot the Indian, and, behold, his words were found 
verified. The ball had entered the head, where the boy had affirmed he shot, 
between the eye and the ear." Such boys made the men of the republic in 
after years — men whom neither tyranny nor oppression could subdue. 



MISS MARIA M. C. HALL. 

This noble woman had admiringly read of Florence Nightingale, and the 
noble work she did in the Crimean war ; and, in the enthusiasm of a spirit natur- 
ally strong, and capable of intense devotion to an object large enough to call 
out all its powers, she planned for herself a course of action, and a career of 
usefulness, that would in effect be reproducing the Crimean heroine under our 
flag, and in the hospitals of our great civil conflict. From the summer of 1861 till 
the summer of 1865 — four long, stern years — Miss Hall thought of nothing, and 
cared for nothing, but how she could be most useful to the suffering defenders 
of the national union. ~No patriot who shouldered his musket at the successive 
calls of our president felt himself more thoroughly committed to the cause, or 
was more determined to march and fight so long as marching and fighting re- 
mained to be done. To her with as great force as to any who thus devoted them- 
selves to lives of loyal charity, can be applied the words which an old English 
author has written of woman in general : " To the honor, to the eternal honor of 
the sex be it recorded, that in the path of duty no sacrifice is to them too high 
or too dear. Nothing is with them impossible but to shrink from love, honor, 
innocence, and religion. The voice of pleasure or of power may pass by un- 
heeded ; but the voice of affliction, never!" Her first ambitions were checked, 
as she was young, cultivated, and enthusiastic, and those in authority considered 
this a disadvantage, as all that was required was that army nurses should be 
simply kind-hearted and efficient. But she was resolute in her intentions. Im- 
mediately after the battle of Antietam Creek was fought, she received a telegram 
from Mrs. Harris, " Meet me at McClelian's headquarters." She at once hurried 
to the front, finding much difficulty, unattended as she was, in penetrating the 
lines, and was unsuccessful in reaching the commanding general or her friend and 
fellow-laborer. As night was closing over the confused and bloody field, she 
found herself at a hospital where most of the wounded were confederates, whom 
the rude fortunes of war had thrown helpless upon the hands of the federal sur- 
geons. The surgeon in charge, who very much needed assistance, begged Miss 
Hall to remain and aid him. This she was reluctant to do, both on account of 
her desire to find Mrs. Harris, and because she preferred to work for the loyal 
sufferers. Both these objections were soon overcome, and she entered upon her 
work. Her example and Christian fortitude had beneficial influences upon her 
proteges, and she was the means of doing much good, both directly and indirectly. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



79 




:-*W 



MRS. A. H. HOGE. 



As among the men who enlisted in the war there was every grade 01 natural 
ability, so with the women, who, in their way enlisted also as hospital nurses 
and sanitary laborers, every rank in life, and all stations in society, sent their 
representatives into the field. The number of those who brought to the altar of 
their country rare gifts, and all the qualities that combine to make a woman 
widely known was not large. Of such, however, was Mrs. Hoge. Her first act 
was freely and promptly to give up her sons to the service. Together with other 
patriotic ladies, different fairs were held for the purpose of raising funds toward 
the sanitary well-being of the Union armies. The fair at Chicago had proposed 
twenty-five thousand dollars; it realized eighty thousand. From other similar 
undertakings not less than ten millions of dollars were raised and contributed 
to this object. Everywhere she went she was a blessing. Soldiers were 
cheered and prepared for trying ordeals ; they were cared for and soothed by 
her heroic labors. All through the war Mrs. Hoge was known far and wide as 
a public benefactor, and the blessings showered upon her by the boys in blue, 
as well as those in gray, for whom she ministered, attested the sincerity of her 
work and purpose. She was in all respects a true type of an American woman. 
Virtues and traits of character centered in her that make her remembrance 
pleasant to contemplate for the greatness of character shown. 



90 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



MRS. CHANNING. 



Shortly after the commencement of the war, the family of Dr. Channing, then 
residing in England, removed to France, and sailed in a stout and well-armed 
vessel for America. They had proceeded but a little way when they were at- 
tacked by a privateer. A fierce engagement ensued, during which Mrs. Chan- 
ning kept the deck, handing cartridges, aiding the wounded, and exhorting the 
crew to resist until death. Their fortitude, however, did not correspond with 
the ardor of her wishes, and "the colors were struck. Seizing the pistols and 
side arms of her husband, she threw them into the sea, declaring that she would 
rather die than see him surrender them to the enemv. 



ANNA ETHERIDGE. 

Were our government to order a gold medal to be given to the woman who 
has most distinguished herself by heroic courage in the field, and by the most 
patient and effective service in the military hospitals, there can be little doubt 
that the united voices of the soldiers and of all the army nurses would assign the 
honor to Anna Etheridge, of Michigan. In our " gentle Anna " was combined 
that true heroism which is the highest boast of manhood, with the modesty, the 
quiet bearing, the deferential manners and unobtrusive worth which are the 
loveliest traits of the fairer and the weaker sex. When the first enlistments 
took place, in the summer of 1861, Anna Etheridge was in Detroit, on a visit to 
friends. There she enlisted in the Second Michigan volunteers, under Colonel 
Richardson. Nineteen young ladies are said to have offered their services in the 
capacity of nurses, but in a few months' service every one but Anna had re- 
turned home, or lost her health, or been discharged. She was furnished with a 
horse, side-saddle, saddle-bags, etc., and during a battle would often ride fear- 
lessly to the front, and whenever she found a soldier too badly hurt to go to the 
rear, she would dismount, and regardless of the shot and shell, produce her lint 
and bandages, bind up his wounds, give water or stimulating drink, then gallop 
on in search of another sufferer. General Berry, who for a long time command- 
ed the brigade to which her regiment was attached, and who was remarkable for 
his personal gallantry in all these engagements, declares that she has remained 
cool and self-possessed under as hot a fire as he ever saw or was exposed to him- 
self. At the nightly bivouac she wrapped herself in her blanket and slept on 
the ground with the hardihood of a true soldier. Generally, during an engage- 
ment, she would remain a little in the rear with the surgeon, but often when she 
saw a man fall she would dash forward into the hottest of the fire, lift him on 
her horse and bring him safely to the rear, where he could have prompt atten- 
tion. Many times she received balls through her dress, but was never hit. More 
than once when the troops showed signs of retreating she rushed to the front, 
seized the colors, and rallied them to a charge, shaming many into doing their 
duty. Though on the battle-field she seemed to be possessed and actuated by the 
single desire of saving the lives of the wounded men, she seldom spoke of her- 
self, or referred to anything she had done. With the soldiers, though sharing 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 81 

all their hardships, she never spoke familiarly, and was held by them in the 
highest veneration and esteem as an angel of mercy. When general orders ex- 
cluded her temporarily from the front lines, she engaged promptly in any hos- 
pital labors where aid was needed. No one of the noble women ^Yho have dis- 
tinguished themselves during the war can furnish so rich, varied and romantic a 
series of recollections as Anna Etheridge. 



MARY WASHINGTON. 

As flow the crystal waters of a hallowed well-spring, glided the life of Mary 
Washington, thus serene, and pure, and secluded, thus genial and beneficent 
and blessed ! It is to be lamented that no records of the youth or early woman- 
hood of this illustrious lady have been preserved. Her husband died when 
George was about twelve years of age. Upon her devolved the care and guid- 
ance of the household and little flock. Order, regularity and occupation reigned 
supreme in her little world of home. She exacted implicit obedience from her 
children, and she tempered maternal tenderness with strict discipline. Mrs. 
Washington displayed farsight and executive ability far beyond her sex. She 
always counseled her son to avoid responsibilities that existing and uncontrol- 
able circumstances might easily render not only devoid of honor or advantage, 
but personally unfortunate or injurious. Ever possessed of far too much genu- 
ine self-respect and enlightenment to regard the necessity of homely toil as de- 
grading or unfortunate, her practical ingenuity and personal efforts now sup- 
plied, in a good degree, the many deficiencies and deprivations arising from the 
pressing exigencies of the times, and materially assisted, not only in providing 
for the wants of her own household, but in furnishing the means of that liberal 
charity which she had always exercised, notwithstanding her limited resources, 
and which was not remitted when increasing occasion had arisen for its contin- 
uance. When her son-in-law, Colonel Lewis, proposed to her to assume % 
the general superintendence of her affairs, she resolutely answered: "Do you, 
Fielding, keep my books in order, for your eyesight is better than mine, but 
leave the executive management to me." Previous to his departure for France, 
after the termination of the Revolutionary war, the Marquis de Lafayette visited 
Fredericksburg expressly for the purpose of making his personal adieus to the 
mother of his beloved hero-friend, and that he might solemnly invoke her bless- 
ing. As the marquis, in company with one of the lady's grandsons, approached 
the house, he observed an aged lady working in the adjoining garden. The ma- 
- terials composing her dress were of home manufacture, and she wore over her 
time-silvered hair a plain straw bonnet. " There, sir," said the younger gentle- 
man, " is my grandmother." Mrs. Washington received her distinguished guest 
with great cordiality and with her usual frank simplicity of address. "Ah, 
Marquis !" she exclaimed, " you see an old woman ; but come, I can make you 
welcome to my poor dwelling without the parade of changing my dress." With 
unaffected piety she referred each and every occurrence in life to the great First 
Cause, and when the notes of jubilant praise swelled high, ever above the din of 
battle and the wailings of a nation's despair, it was her earnest maternal agpira- 



82 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

tion that the good boy "of her early care might never forget himself" It was 
Mrs. Washington's habit, during the latter years of her life, to repair daily to a 
secluded spot near her dwelling, formed by overhanging rocks and trees. There, 
isolated from worldly thoughts and objects, she sought in devout prayer and 
meditation most appropriate preparation for the great change which she was ad- 
monished by her advanced age might nearly await her. The name of this woman 
will be revered and her memory cherished when those of mighty empires and 
world-renowned sovereigns shall have sunk forever into the whirlpool of obliv- 
ion ; unsullied, unobscured by the supremacy of power and the lapse of ages, they 
will beam forth resplendant in the sanctified lustre of moral grandeur. She was 
a Christian matron, and radiant in the zenith of Columbia's heaven beams the 
star of her fame, fixed and enduring as 

" The cerulean arch we see, 
Majestic in its own simplicity 1" 



MARTHA WASHINGTON. 

The reflected glory of Washington's character gave distinction to all who were 
connected with him by domestic ties or the bonds of consanguinity. There 
were many matrons of his day equally noble and virtuous as she who bore him, 
yet " Mary, the mother of Washington," appears the most illustrious of them ail. 
Beauty, accomplishments and noble worth belonged to Martha Dandridge as a 
maiden, and Martha Custis as a wife and mother, but her crowning glory in the 
world's esteem is the fact that she was the bosom companion of the Father of his 
Country. Miss Dandridge possessed only such artificial accomplishments as the 
system of domestic instruction enabled her to acquire. She was, happily, en- 
dowed for usefulness and happiness by nature. Self-respect, good sense, and a 
quick perception of propriety were characteristics. She submitted with the ut- 
most patience to personal privation and hardship, and did the honors of her 
homely camp abode with all the grace and urbanity that distinguished the mis- 
tress of the White House and of Mount Vernon. Her unwavering religious faith 
and her perpetual serenity and good humor not only contributed materially to 
the general good, but were of great service to her husband individually. Lady 
Washington's time and attention during each of the many seasons of her resi- 
dence with the army — apart from the dearer duties and obligations arising out of 
her reunions with her husband — were chiefly devoted to the humane purpose of 
benefiting and relieving the suffering soldiers. She visited the sick, ministered 
to their wants, and poured that sympathy which is the " oil of joy " into their 
desponding hearts. She is described by those who witnessed and partook of her 
efforts, as having been unwavering in her zeal and earnestness in this her noble 
and womanly purpose. No danger delayed, no difficulty or hardship prevented 
the fulfillment of these benevolent duties. It is recorded of this devout Chris- 
tian that never during her life, whether in prosperity or in adversity, did she 
omit that daily self-communion and self-examination and those private devotion- 
al exercises which would best prepare her for the self-control and self-denial by 
which she was, for more than half a century, so eminently distinguished. It was 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 83 

her habit to retire to her own apartment every morning after breakfast, there to 
devote an hour to solitary prayer and meditation. While her husband was Presi- 
dent of the United States, Mrs. Washington presided with dignity over the ex- 
ecutive mansion, both in New York and Philadelphia; but the quiet of domestic 
life had more charms for her than the pomp of place, and she rejoiced greatly 
when both sat down again, at Mount Vernon, to enjoj r the repose which declin- 
ing age coveted. But that pleasant dream of life soon vanished, for her com- 
panion was taken away by death a little more than two years afterward. When 
she was certified of y Jie departure of his spirit, she said, " 'Tis well; all is now 
over ; I shall soon foJLv.w him ; I have no more trials to pass through." In less 
than thirty months afterward the stricken widow was laid in the tomb, at the age 
of almost seventy-one years. In marble sarcophagus their remains now lie to- 
gether at Mount Vernon — that Mecca of many pilgrims. 



HEEOISM OF THE MISSES TAYLOR. 

When the North was arrayed against the South, Danville, Kentucky, was much 
divided in allegiance, many who had long been neighbors and friends espousing 
opposite causes. But there was no doubt as to the sympathies of Mrs. Taylor and 
her estimable family. To the breeze floated the striped bunting over her cottage, 
winch proclaimed that their hearts and hopes and fears were all with the Union 
cause. When Kirby Smith occupied Danville, he sent a squad of half a dozen 
men to take down "that piece of bunting from Mrs. Taylor's house. They were 
met at the door by Mrs. Taylor's two daughters, Maria and Mattie, who politely 
but firmly announced their intention to resist any effort to remove the national 
emblem. The valorous squad returned, and reported that it would require a full 
company to remove the flag. The force was detailed. A captain marched a 
hundred men with loaded guns to the door, and made a formal demand for the 
colors. The young ladies now came to the front door, each armed with a re- 
volver, and holding the glorious banner between them. They replied to the 
confederate captain that they had vowed never to surrender that flag, and de- 
clared their intention to shoot the first one that polluted it with his touch. After 
hesitating a few moments the ofiicer withdrew his force, and reported that in the 
exercise of his discretion he had not found it advisable to remove the colors. 



MRS. RICHARD SHUBRICK. 

Here was, indeed, a heroine of which to be proud. Her eyes sparkled with feel- 
ing and vivacity, while her countenance so plainly bespoke her kindness and 
benevolence that sorrow and misfortune instinctively sought shelter under her 
protection. There was an appearance of personal debility about her that ren- 
dered her peculiarly interesting ; it seemed to solicit the interest of every heart, 
and the man would have felt himself degraded who would not put his life at haz- 
ard to serve her. Yet, when firmness of character was requisite, when fortitude 
was called for to repel the encroachments of aggression, there was not a more 



84 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

intrepid being in existence. One noble instance only, among many, will be 
presented in proof. ; An American soldier, flying from a party of the enemy, 
sought her protection, which was promised. The British pressing close upon 
him insisted that he should be delivered up, threatening immediate and uni- 
versal destruction in case of refusal. The ladies, her friends and companions, 
who were in the house with her, shrunk from the contest, and were silent, but 
undaunted by their threats this intrepid lady placed herself before the chamber 
into which the unfortunate fugitive had been conducted, and resolutely said : 
" To men of honor the chamber of a lady should be as sacred as a sanctuary ! I 
will defend the passage to it, though I perish. You may succeed and enter it, 
but it shall be over my corpse." " By God," said the officer, " if muskets were 
only placed in the hands of a few such women, our only safety would be found 
in retreat. Your intrepidity, madam, gives you security ; from me you shall 
meet no further annoyance." 



NOBLE ACT OF TWO TENNESSEE WOMEN. 

During the autumn, when Grant was commanding in West Tennessee in the 
Rebellion, with headquarters at Jackson, the twenty-seventh Iowa was ordered 
to take the cars at Corinth and proceed to Jackson. It was night time and the 
train was crowded, men occupying the platforms, and covering the roofs of the 
cars. As he approached a bridge, the engineer saw two lanterns in the distance 
swung to and fro with the greatest earnestness. He gave the signal of danger, the 
brakes were instantly applied, the train stopped, and men sent forward to ascertain 
the cause of the alarm. Two women were found at the bridge, who said the coming 
of the loaded train of Union soldiers was known to a band of guerrillas which 
infested the neighborhood. In the early part of the night the assassins had fired 
the bridge, and allowed the string-pieces to burn nearly off, when they extin- 
guished the fire and left the structure standing, but so weak that it would go 
down as soon as a train came over it. Hearing of this piece of dastard villiany, 
the women had left home in the dead of the night and traveled on foot several 
miles through the woods, to give an alarm and prevent the fearful consequences 
that would otherwise have ensued. The officers and men whose lives were 
thus saved, begged of these heroic women to accept a purse of money, which was 
made up on the spot. This they refused ; and all the return they would permit 
was that a small squad of the soldiers might see them safely home. 



A BRAVE HEROINE. 

In many parts of the South during the late civil struggle, the sentiment of 
fidelity to the Union w T as cherished by both sexes, with as much warmth as by 
any in the loyal states who volunteered their services for hospital duty, or gave 
up their sons and husbands to the call of patriotism. In the fall of 1862, when 
Bragg and Kirby Smith made their swift and inglorious retreat from Kentucky 
through Cumberland Gap, they were sharply pursued by Rousseau, One morning 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 85 

the regiment in the van — the twenty-third Kentucky — when about twenty-five 
miles east of Wildcat Mountain, were greatly surprised to see a squad of ragged 
confederates come filing slowly into camp disarmed, and a woman walking be- 
hind them with a musket in her hands. There were eleven of the confederates, 
and the woman handed them over to the colonel as prisoners of war. She said 
they came to her house the night previous, and finding that her husband was a 
volunteer in the Union lines, proceeded to help themselves promiscuously to 
everything they fancied. Some ran down the chickens, and began to kill and eat, 
while others cut up her carpets for horse blankets, and committed wanton dep- 
redations about the house. The incensed woman remained quiet, but watched her 
opportunity. Presently they were all collected in the largest room, and making 
merry over the fire, having left their muskets in a stack near the door. Weary, 
and suspecting no mischief in a solitary woman, they relaxed their watch, while 
she quietly removed all the fire-arms but two loaded muskets, which she took in 
her hands, and, standing by the door, demanded a surrender. One of them, 
more alert than the rest, made a spring for the muskets, but fell dead on the 
floor with a ball through his body. She told them quietly that any further at- 
tempt to escape would be met by a similar fate. As they had a resolute foe to 
deal with, discretion now became the better part of valor; they submitted to the 
fortunes of war, and at daylight she marched them into the Union camp as 
described. 



ISABELLA GRAHAM. 

Were the deeds of all the heroic, noble, and self-sacrificing women of the 
world written, they would perhaps show greater heroism and devotion than tho*e 
of their brothers. " Earth hath its angels bright and lovely. They often walk 
in the garden of humanity unobserved. Their foot-prints are j>early with heav- 
en's choicest blessings ; fragrant flowers spring up and bloom continually in 
their pjesence, and the birds of paradise warble unceasingly in the branches be- 
neath which they recline. They are born of true religion in the heart Their 
creed comes down from heaven, and is as broad as humanity ; their hope is a 
golden chain of promises suspended from the throne of infinite goodness; their 
example is a preacher of rightousness co-working with the great Redeemer." 

Of such was Isabella Graham. Just before the Revolution she went with her 
husband 'to the island of Anteana. Then the furnace of affliction was prepared 
for her. First, intelligence came that her dear mother w T as buried. Soon after 
that two of her dear friends were removed by death; and in the autumn of 1774 
her excellent husband was taken from her, after a few days illness. She after- 
ward went to Scotland. Her aged father had become impoverished, and was 
added to the dependents upon her efforts for a livelihood. She opened a small 
school, and lived upon coarse and scanty food, made sweet by the thought that 
it was earned for those she loved. God prospered her, and she distributed freely 
of her little abundance among the more needy. A tenth of all her earnings she 
regularly devoted to charity; and hour after hour, when the duties of her 
school had ceased, that good and gentle creature would walk among the poor 



86 HOBLE AND UE&OIC DEEDS 

and destitute, in the lanes and alleys of the Scottish capital, dispensing physical 
benefits and religious consolations. Thoroughly purified in the crucible of sor- 
row, her heart was ever alive with sympathy for suffering humanity, and that 
became the great controlling emotion that shaped her labors. She often lent 
small sums of money to young persons about entering upon business, and would 
never receive interest, for she considered the luxury of doing good sufficient 
usury. She encouraged poor laboring people to unite in creating a fund for 
mutual relief in case of sickness, by a small deposit each week, and thus she found- 
ed the "Penny Society," out of which grew that excellent institution, in Edin- 
burgh, " The Society for the Relief of the Destitute and Sick." Her last public 
labor was in forming a society for the promotion of industry among the poor. 
That was in the spring of 1814, when the infirmities of health and age had short- 
ened her mission of love. 



PARAGON BRAVERY. 

Brave men indeed were these ! In the whole range of history, and in all 
time, an instance of bravery more true cannot be found. It gives to us 
at a glance the very summit of human courage — the ne plus ultra of gallant 
intrepidity — and the rarest case of utter defiance of danger in the simple 
path of human duty to be found on record. After Kieber had been left 
by Napoleon in command of the French forces in Egypt, he sustained a 
number of engagements with the enemy — Turks and English — in not one 
of which was he defeated, and in most of which he was signally victorious, 
though he fought against armies from four to six and ten times more numerous 
than his own. In one of these battles — and one, the closing scene of which ren- 
dered it the most memorable of them all — with only two thousand men he sus- 
tained himself during five long hours of continuous fighting against the united 
onset of twenty thousand ! At length, severely wounded himself, his little band 
almost entirely surrounded, and completely worn out, with only a narrow, rocky 
defile through which to escape, he turned his thoughts to saving the rem- 
nant of his gallant force. A retreat of the whole would simply have invited in- 
stant and total annihilation. In this extremity he saw his only hope. One of 
the bravest and most trustworthy officers was a chief of battalion named Che- 
vardin. This man he summoned, and to him said : " Chevardin, if you will take 
a company of your grenadiers, and engage the enemy at the entrance to the ra- 
vine, I will lead our shattered army away from danger. Mark you, my dear 
brother; you will all be killed, but you will have saved your comrades." Said 
the noble chief in response, " Save the army, General. The way is open now, 
and it shall remain open while I have life." Then he dashed away, and quickly 
selected his company of grenadiers — fifty men — and frankly presented to them 
the situation. He said to them, in spirit, as Kieber had said to him, " You and 
I must offer up our lives, but our comrades we shall save to bless our memory 
for all time." Not a man of them hesitated, not a man quailed. Shouted a tall 
sergeant of grenadiers, standing bare-headed before the little band, " ITbn braves, 
it must be death if we remain here, sure as fate — death for all. If we can save 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 87 

the others, glory is ours." A quick, hearty assent was given up and down the 
line, and then Chevardin gave the order, " Forward I" The enemy saw the small 
army of the French entering the ravine, and instantly they gave the order for 
pursuit — " Pursue and spare not !" But at the natural outposts — a sort of rocky 
barbican — of the defile, they met a living wall that could not be passed. Madly, 
furiously, they hurled their mighty force against the martyr band, again and 
again until in the end the impediment had been swept away. But then it was 
too late, Kleber's shattered battalions had gained the safe retreat beyond the ra- 
vine, where they dared not follow. 



DARING INTREPIDITY. 

Kentucky, in its early days, like most new countries, was occasionally troubled 
by men of abandoned character, who lived by stealing the property of others, 
and, after committing their depredation, retired to their hiding places, thereby 
eluding the operation of the law. One of these marauders, a man of desperate 
character, who had committed extensive thefts from Mr. Samuel Daviess, as well 
as from his neighbors, was pursued by Daviess and a party whose property he had 
taken, in order to bring him to justice. While the party were in pursuit, the sus- 
pected individual, not knowing any one was pursuing him, came to the house of 
Daviess, armed with his gun and tomahawk — no person being at home but Mrs. 
Daviess and her children. After he had stepped into the house, Mrs. Daviess asked 
him if he would drink something; and having set a bottle of whisky on the table, 
requested him to help himself. The fellow, not suspecting any danger, set his. 
gun up by the door, and while drinking, Mrs. Daviess picked up his gun, and 
placing herself in the door, had the gun cocked and leveled upon him by the 
time he turned around, and in a peremptory manner ordered him to take a seat, 
or she would shoot him. Struck with terror and alarm, he asked what he had 
done. She told him he had stolen her husband's property, and that she intended 
to take care of him herself. In that condition she held him a prisoner, until the 
party of men returned and took him into their possession. 



ANN H. JUDSON. 

The chapter of heroism in the field of missionary labors is as romantic as it is 
self-sacrificing. Ann H. Judson had been a gay young lady previous to her 
marriage, after which she accompanied her husband to India. When the war 
between the Burmese and the British government of Bengal broke out, they 
were in Aou, the capital of Bengal, where they had just completed preparations 
for missionary work. Mr. Judson was seized, cruelly treated, and kept a prison- 
er by the Burmese government for more than eighteen months, half of the time 
in triple fetters, and two months in five pair. The labors of Mrs. Judson during 
that time form one of the most wonderful chapters in the record of female 
heroism. Day after day she made intercessions before government officers for 
the liberation of her husband and other prisoners, but to no purpose; and every 



88 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

day she walked two miles to carry them food prepared with her own hands. 
Without her ministrations they must have perished. She had' readily learned 
the language ; and finally her appeals, written in elegant Burmese, were given 
to the emperor, when no officer dared mention the subject to him. The saga- 
cious monarch, trembling for the fate of his kingdom — for a victorious English 
army was marching toward his capital — saw safety in employing her, and he ap- 
pointed her his embassadress to General Sir Archibald Campbell, the British leader, 
to prepare the way for a treaty. She was received by the British commander with 
all the ceremony of an envoy extraordinary. She managed the affairs of the 
emperor with perfect fidelity, and a treaty was made through her influence, for 
which the proud monarch gave her great praise. She secured the release of her 
husband and his fellow-prisoners, and they all recommenced their missionary 
work. When the intense excitement which she had so lorng experienced was over, 
Mrs. Judson felt the reaction with terrible force. This, added to her great suffer- 
ings, prostrated her strength, and in the course of a few months, while Mr. Judson 
was absent at another post of duty, that noble disciple of Jesus fell asleep anden» 
tered upon her blessed rest, j 



THE HEROINES OF BRYANT'S STATION. 

The brave example cannot perish 

Of courage. Hosmer. 

At the siege of Bryant's Station, near Lexington, Kentucky, in August, 1782, the 
water in the fort was exhausted ; and as the nearest place to obtain a supply was 
a spring several rods off, it would require no small risk, and, consequently, no 
common intrepidity to undertake to bring it. A body of Indians in plain sight 
were trying to entice the soldiers to attack them without the walls, while anoth- 
er party was eoncealed near the spring, waiting, it was supposed, to storm one of 
the gates, should the beseiged venture out. It was thought probable that the 
Indians in ambush would remain so until they saw indications that the other 
party had succeeded in enticing the soldiers to open engagement. The position 
of things was explained to the women, and they were invited to each take a 
bucket and march to the spring in a body. " Some, as was natural, had no relish 
for the undertaking, and asked why the men could not bring the water as well 
as themselves, observing that they were not bullet proof, and the Indians made 
no distinction between male and female scalps. To this it was answered fhat 
the women were in the habit of bringing water every morning to the fort; and 
that if the Indians saw them engaged as usual, it would induce them to think that 
their ambuscade was undiscovered; and that they would not unmask themselves 
for the sake of firing at a few women, when they hoped, by remaining con- 
cealed a few moments longer, to obtain complete possession of the fort ; that 
if men should go down to the spring, the Indians would immediately sus- 
pect something was wrong, would despair of succeeding by ambuscade, and 
would instantly rush upon them, follow them into the fort, or shoot them 
down at the spring. The decision was soon made, A few of the boldest de- 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 89 

\ 

clared their readiness to brave the danger, and the younger and more timid rally- 
ing in the rear of these veterans, they all marched down in a body to the spring, 
within point blank shot of more than five hundred Indian warriors. Some of 
the girls could not help betraying symptoms of terror; but the married women, 
in general, moved with a steadiness and composure that completely deceived the 
Indians. Not a shot was fired. The party were permitted to fill their buckets, 
one after another without interruption ; and although their steps became quick- 
er and quicker, on their return, and when near the fort degenerated into a 
rather unmilitary celerity, with some little crowding in passing the gate, yet not 
more than one fifth of the water was spilled, and the eyes of the youngest had 
not dilated to more than double their ordinarv size." 



"I CAN FIGHT WITH MY RIGHT HAND." 

During the rebellion the sacrifices made for right were of the most sublime 
character. Incidents are numerous of sterling bravery, even when the hero 
was suffering, bleeding, and sometimes dying. During that awful month of June, 
1862, the strife went on. Day after day the wounded were carried to the rear ; 
and hundreds, with shattered arms and slight flesh wounds came in on foot. A 
rebel war clerk, writing of these scenes, mentions seeing a boy not more than 
fifteen years old, from South Carolina, with his arm in a sling. Showing his 
wound, the clerk found that a ball had entered between the fingers of his left 
hand and lodged near the wrist, where the flesh was very much swollen. The 
boy said, smiling, "I'm going to the hospital just to have the ball cut out, and 
will then return to the battle field. I can fight with my right hand." Even 
though fighting for a cause that failed, yet his bravery was of the highest order, 
and his determination to aid his countrymen was commendable. Such boys al- 
ways win, and advance the cause for which they fight. 



STEPHEN GI11ARD. 

It is honorable to be wealthy, when wealth is honorably acquired, and when 
it is used for laudable or noble purposes. After living a peaceful, happy, and 
successful life, Stephen Girard died, leaving behind a fortune of about nine 
millions of dollars, a very small portion of which was bequeathed to his rela- 
tives- The city of Philadelphia, in trust, was his chief legatee. He left two 
millions of dollars, " or more if necessary," to build and endow a college for the 
education and maintenance of "poor male orphan children," to be "received 
between the ages of six and ten, and to be bound out between the ages of four- 
teen and eighteen, to suitable occupations, as those of agriculture, navigation, 
arts, mechanical trades and manufactures." Girard was a true philanthropist. 
He loved to aid and succor the poor, alleviate distress, and provide for 
helpless hostages. Stephen Girard's name will ever be associated with philan- 
thropy ; and to aid others as he did is to leave behind the richest legacy to 
perpetuate his memory. 



90 



NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



A TOUCHING INCIDENT OF BRAVERY. 

When President Polk issued the famous manifesto, that Mexico had "invaded 
our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil," and 
called for volunteers to oppose the wrongs, an outburst of patriotic fervor swept 
over the country. In the battle of Monterey, which was occasioned by this an- 
nouncement, a touching incident of bravery is recorded. A correspondent of 
the Louisville Courier wrote as follows concerning the incident : 

" In the midst of the conflict a Mexican woman was busily engaged in carry- 
ing bread and water to the wounded men of both armies. I saw the ministering 
angel raise the head of a wounded man, give him water and food, and then bind 
up the ghastly wound with a handkerchief she took from her'own head. After 







A SCENE AT MONTEEEY. 

having exhausted her supplies, she went back to her house to get more bread and 
water for others. As she was returning on her mission of mercy, to comfort 
others, I heard the report of a gun, and the poor innocent creature fell dead. I 
think it was an accidental shot that struck her; I would not be willing to believe 
otherwise. It made me sick at heart; and, turning away from the scene, I in- 
voluntarily raised my eyes toward heaven, and thought, i Great God I Is this 
war? ' Passing the spot the next day, I saw her body still lying there, with the 
bread by her side, and the broken gourd with a few drops of water in it — em- 
blems of her errand. We buried her; and while digging her grave, cannon 
balls flew around us like hail." 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 91 



RICHARD M. JOHNSON. 

Before our subject was twenty years of age the foundation of his future pop- 
ularity and fame was laid, and his patriotism and military genius were develop- 
ed by circumstances which seemed to menace the peace then existing be- 
tween the United States and its Spanish neighbors in Louisiana. Negotiations 
finally induced the Spanish to again open the port at New Orleans to the United 
States vessels, and Johnson's military ardor was allowed to cool. Under com 
mand of General Harrison, he was the chief actor in the sanguinary battle on 
the Thames, in Canada West, in October, 1813, when the Americans gained such 
a decisive victory over the combined forces of British regulars, under Proctor 
and fifteen hundred Indians, under the renowned Tecumseh, that it ended the 
war in the West. Colonel Johnson led the division against the Indians, and he 
was in the thickest of the fight during the whole contest. Even when his bridle 
arm was shattered, and his horse was reeling from the loss of blood, he fough 
on, encouraged his men, and put the Indians to flight. When he was borne 
from the field, there were twenty-five bullet-holes in his person, his clothing, and 
his horse. He was taken to JDetroit, and from thence was borne home, in great 
pain. In February following, though not able to walk, he took his seat in Con- 
gress. He was everywhere greeted by the people with the wildest enthusiasm 
as the Hero of the West. Colonel Johnson was the author of the laws which 
abolished imprisonment for debt in Kentucky, and of the famous report in 
Congress against [the discontinuance of the mail on Sunday. He is greatly re- 
vered for his unwearied efforts in behalf of. the soldiers of the Revolution and 
of the war of 1812 who asked Congress for pensions or relief. 



BRAVERY AT ALL HAZARDS. 

Such an intrepid spirit as Dicey Langston, our present heroine, possessed, was 
highly serviceable in the stirring times of the Revolution. Learning one time 
that a band of loyalists — known in those parts as the "bloody scouts" — were 
about to fall upon the " Elder settlement," a place where a brother of hers and 
other friends were residing, she resolved to warn them of their danger. To do 
this she must hazard her own life. But off she started, alone, in the darkness 
of the night. She traveled several miles through the woods, and over marshes 
and across creeks, through a country where foot-logs and bridges were unknown ; 
coming to the Tyger, a rapid and deep stream, she plunged in and waded till the 
water was up to her neck; she then became bewildered, and zigzagged the chan- 
nel for some time ; reaching the opposite shore at length — for a helping hand 
was beneath, a kind providence guiding her — she hastened on ; reached the set- 
tlement, and her brother and the whole community were safe. 

She was returning one day from another settlement of whigs — in the Spartan- 
burg district — when a company of tories met her and questioned her in regard 
to the neighborhood she had just left; but she refused to communicate the de- 
sired information. The leader of the band then h&ld a pistol at her breast, and 



92 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

threatened to shoot her if she did not make the wished for disclosure. " Shoot 
me if you dare ! I will not tell you ! " was her dauntless reply, as she opened a 
long handkerchief that covered her neck and bosom, thus manifesting her 
willingness to receive the contents of the pistol, if the officer insisted on dis- 
closures or life. The dastard, enraged at her defying movement, was in the act 
of firing, at which moment one of the soldiers threw up the hand holding the 
weapon, and the cowerless heart of the girl was permitted to beat on. 



/ 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 

It has been kept in memory that on the sixth of July, 1774, when the large 
body of mechanics had assembled in the Fields and recommended the Boston 
policy of suspending trade, a young man from abroad, so small and delicate in 
his organization that he appeared to be much younger than perhaps he really 
was, took part in the debate before the crowd. They asked one another the 
name of the gifted stranger, who shone like a star first seen above the haze, of 
whose rising no one has taken note. He proved to be Alaxander Hamilton, a 
West Indian. His mother, while he was yet a child, had left him an orphan and 
poor. A father's care he seems never to have known. When a mere lad, in 
confessing his ambition to a friend he said, "I would willingly risk my life, 
though not my character, to exalt my station. I mean to prepare the way for 
futurity; we have see© such schemes succeed when their projectors are constant." 
That way he prepared by integrity of conduct, diligence and study. Trained 
from childhood to take care of himself, he possessed a manly r elf -reliance. 



A REMARKABLE WOMAN. 

The Wesley brothers, John and Charles, who founded Methodism, derive their 
greatness, like many eminent men, from their mother. She was an extraordi- 
nary woman, gifted with great intelligence and force of character. The father 
was eccentric and wayward, and liable to strange impulses; but the mother was 
calm in temperament, uniform in her methods, and of inflexible purpose. She 
ruled in her home, and the children learned from the cradle to yield to her un- 
questioning obedience. The quiet of the house was a mystery to her neighbors, 
for nineteen children — thirteen were living at one time — are apt to make a riot 
in any household. But visitors often said you would not have known there was a 
child in the family. She did not allow them to cry in infancy, or to romp in the 
house when older. She was their teacher, beginning their instruction when they 
were five years of age, by making them learn the alphabet in a single day. Then 
they were put to spelling and reading one line, then a verse, never leaving it till 
it was known perfectly. Their progress was very rapid under wise guidance. 
But though the family government was so rigid, it was administered with love, 
md they had the reputation of being the most loving family in the county of 
Lincoln. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 93 



AN ACT OF TRUE HEROISM. 



When the steamer Cyprian was wrecked on the coast of Wales, the hundreds 
of people who stood horror stricken along the shore witnessed an act oi heroism 
remarkable under any circumstances. The captain, John A. Strachan, of Liver- 
pool, had told those on board that every one must look out lor himself. Most of 
the crew had dropped overboard, and Captain Strachan also prepared ^o -sp 
into the billows. He tied a life-belt about his waist and mounted the rail. £d 
that moment he noticed the pale face of a boy peering from the decks below. 
The lad had been an unworthy and troublesome passenger. A few hours before 
he was regarded as a sneak — a miserable pilferer of privileges; out now 
skipper only remembered he was a human being, to be saved-^f possi X any 
rate not to be left behind. Without a word Captain Strachan unbuckled the 
life-belt from his waist and lashed it ship-shape upon the helpless boy, bidaing 
him save himself. " I can swim," said the captain ; " take the belt." Over the 
side he went, lifted upon the surf like a cork; over the side went the captain, 
trusting, like the good, brave fellow that he was, to his strength, enfeebled with 
watching and anxiety. But swimming was impossible in such a sea. The boat- 
swain, struggling for his own life, caught at the captain, who was still making 
headway, and both went down, never to be seen again ; while the little fellow, 
with the good captain's life-belt about his waist, was flung upon the Welsh coast, 
battered about, but alive to tell the story of his strange fate and his kind friend's 
heroism. Such sterling heroism in the face of certain death will long serve to 
keep the memory of this brave captain green. He went down for another. This 
is the truest test of great magnanimity. 



THE BENEVOLENT COUNTESS. 
#• 

A noble lady of England, the Countess Ebersburg, is engaged in a philan- 
thropic work, for which she was prepared by the death of two babes of her own, 
and she then consecrated her fortune and life to the single work of saving the 
lives of children. As she began to examine the subject, she met with the state- 
ment that in England two hundred thousand children die annually under the 
age of five, and of these three per cent, die of preventable causes. Then she 
set herself to the task of going around and visiting the poor, and conversing 
with mothers. In the first p. ace, she instituted weekly mothers' meetings, which 
might be attended by those who were able, at which she gave them instructions 
in economizing their poor means, and in the kinds of food most nourishing, and 
answered from the best authorities the mothers' questions as to treating their 
own and ^ their children's ailments. The countess next drew upon her own 
means and those of her friends to provide malted-food extract and similar things 
for ailing children, and by spending about £400 a year in this way saved many 
lives. The ill-spelt, tear-blotted letters of gratitude showered upon her by grate- 
ful mothers are preserved by her as proudly as any warrior preserves the medals 
that reward his successful slaughters. No cry of mother or child has ever been 



94 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

unheeded. Gradually she has extended her plans to include a children's retreat 
in the country, for babies whose lives depend upon a change of air, and a day 
nursery, where women may leave their children in good care while they are at 
work. Her work is now arranged in districts amid the poorest parts of London, 
and she distributes some nine thousand pounds o. oaby food per annum. In- 
structions as to health are given in four different centers. A great many eaixets 
containing simple sanitary instructions are also distributed- 



BRAVERY OF MRS. HENDEE. 

On the burning of Royalton, Vermont, by the Indians, in 1776, Mrs. Hendee, 
of that place, exhibited a praiseworthy and heroic character. The attack was 
sudden, and her husband being absent in the Vermont regiment, and she vbeing 
in the field, the Indians seized her children, c; -Tried them across White Eiver, at 
that place perhaps a hundred yards wide and quite deep for fording, and placed 
them under the keepers having the other persons they had collected — thirty or 
forty in number — in charge. On discovering the fate of her children Mrs. 
Hendee resolutely dashed into the river, waded through, and fearlessly entering 
the Indian camp, regardless of their tomahawks menacingly flourished around 
her head, boldly demanded the release of her little ones, and persevered in her 
alternate upbraidings and supplications till her request was granted. She then 
carried her children back through the river and landed them in safety on the 
other bank. But not content with what she had done, like a patriot as she was, 
she immediately returned, begged for the release of the children of others, again 
was rewarded with success, and brought two or three more away; again returned 
and again succeeded, till she had rescued the whole fifteen of her neighbors 5 
children who had been thus snatched away from their parents. On her last re- 
turn to the camp of the enemy, the Indians were so struck with iier conduct 
that one of them declared that so brave a squaw deserved to be carried across 
the river, and offered to take her on his back and carry her over. She in the 
same spirit accepted the offer, mounted the back of the savage, and was carried 
to the opposite bank, where she collected her rescued troop of children, and 
hastened away to restore them to their over-joyed parents. 



THE BOY HERO. 

In a sermon designed to teach that a life of self-sacrifice is the only life worth 
living, a New York preacher tells the following touching anecdote: A rougn 
teacher in a school called up a poor, half-starved lad, who had violated the laws 
of the school, and said, "Take oft your coat, sir! " The boy refused to take it 
off. The teacher said again, "Take off your coat," as he swung the whip through 
the air. The *>oy refused. It was not because he was afraid of the lash — he was 
used to that at home — but it was from shame ; he had no undergarment. And as 
at the third command he pulled slowly off his coat, there went a sob all through 
the school. They saw then why he did not want to remove his coat, and they 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 95 

saw the shoulder blades had almost cut through the skin, and a stout, healthy 
boy rose up and went to the teacher of the school and said, " Oh, sir, please 
don't hurt this poor fellow! Whip me. He's nothing but a poor chap. Don't 
hurt him — he's poor. Whip me." " Well," said the teacher, "its going to be a 
severe whipping ; I am willing to take you as a substitute." " Well," said the 
boy, "I don't care. You may whip me if you will let this poor fellow go." The 
stout, healthy boy took the scourging without an outcry. Probably not one of 
our readers but will say " Bravo ! " But how many will not only admire but 
imitate the spirit of that self-sacrifice ? 



BRAVE SERGEANT OBJ). 

In every instance where this heroic soldier was engaged in action, he not only 
increased his own reputation, but animated those around him by his lively cour- 
age. In camp, on a march, and in every situation, he performed his duties with 
cheerfulness and vivacity, preserving always the most orderly conduct. At 
the surprise of Georgetown, being with a small party of the Legion Infantry, in 
possession of an inclosure, surrounding a house from which they had expelled 
the enemy, the recovery of the position was sought by a British force, whose 
leader approaching the gate of entrance, exclaimed, "Bush on, my brave fellows, 
they are only worthless militia, and have no bayonets ! " Ord immediately 
placed himself in front of the gate, and as they attempted to enter, laid six of 
his enemies, in succession, dead at his feet, crying out at every thrust, " No bay- 
onets here — none at all, to be sure ! " following up his strokes with such rapidity 
that the British party could make no impression, and were compelled to retire. 



AN UNDOUBTED HEROINE. 

Among the most harrowing disasters that daily occur are those of the sea. Our 
present heroine has all her life been of great service to vessels that flounder about 
Fairweather Island, located sixty miles north of the city of New York. The island 
is about half a mile from shore, and contains five acres of land. On that little, 
secluded spot Captain Moore has resided nearly a quarter of a century, and has 
reared a family of five children, of whom Kate is the heroine. Disasters fre- 
quently occur to vessels which are driven around Montauk Point, and sometimes 
in the sound, when they are homeward bound; and at such times she is always 
on the alert She has so thoroughly cultivated the sense of hearing that she 
can distinguish amid the howling storm the shrieks of the drowning mariners, 
and thus direct a boat, which she has learned to manage most dexterously, in the 
darkest night, to the spot where a fellow mortal is perishing. Though well ed- 
ucated and refined, she possesses none of the affected delicacy which character- 
izes too many town-bred misses ; but, adapting herself to the peculiar exigencies 
of her father's humble yet honorable calling, she is ever ready to lend a helping 
hand, and shrinks from no danger if duty points that way. In the gloom and 
terror of the stormy night, amid perils at all hours of the day and all seasons of 



96 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

the year, she has launched her barque on the threatening wav and has assisted 
her aged and feeble father in saving the lives of scores of persons. Such con- 
duct, like that of Grace Darling, to whom Kate Moore has been justly compared, 
needs no comment; it stamps its moral at once and indelibly upon the heart of 
every reader. 



A GIBUS COOL COURAGE. 

Two of the most essential elements of true bravery are a cool head and a stout 
heart. The following incident illustrates how truly courageous was the heroine: 
The children of Judge Winchester were at school, and in returning home had 
to cross Hickory Creek. Mr. Winchester had sent a team for them, and the 
children jumping into the wagon started for home. In crossing the* stream a 
sudden rush of water caught the wagon, it became uncoupled, and the bed and 
hind wheels started down stream in imminent danger of being capsized momenta- 
rily. A daughter of Mr. Winchester's, only twelve years old, comprehending 
the danger, cooly picked up each one of the little children and threw them out, 
while men caught them as they splashed in the water near the edge of the banks, 
After all had been rescued, she leaped from the treacherous craft and was 
caught up by the willing hands on the bank, and in an instant the wagon cap- 
sized. The act was truly heroic. The horses were also saved, and the wrecked 
wagon recovered from the banks of j:he stream below, where it drifted and 
lodged. 



SERGEANT WHALING. 

In proportion as the soldiers of the Revolution were removed from that rank 
in society in which an enlargement of ideas and expansion of mind was to be 
looked for, must be their merit, who, under the exalted influences of military 
and patriotic enthusiasm, evinced a nobleness of soul, and chivalric intrepidity, 
increasing their own fame, and giving a higher stamp of celebrity to the Ameri- 
can character. What can be said of the soldiers in general can be said of Ser- 
geant Whaling with emphasis. When the importance of wresting the possession 
of Stockade Fort, at Ninety-Six, from the enemy was clearly ascertained, Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Lee, to whom the charge of directing all operations against it 
was intrusted by General Greene, adopted the opinion that it might be effected 
by fire. Accordingly, Sergeant Whaling, a gallant non-commissioned officer, 
who had served with zeal and fidelity from the commencement of the Revolution, 
and whose period of enlistment would have expired in a few days, with twelve 
privates, were sent forward in open day, and over level ground that afforded no 
cover to facilitate their approaches, to accomplish this hazardous enterprise. 
W^haling saw with certainty the death on which he was about to rush, but by the 
prospect of which he was unappalled. He dressed himself neatly, took an affec- 
tionate but cheerful leave of his friends, and with his musket swung over his 
shoulder, and a bundle of blazing pine torches in his hand, sprung forward for 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 07 

the object of his attack. His alacrity inspired the little band with courage. 
They followed him closely up to the building around which the stockade was 
erected before the troops within fired a shot. Their aim was deliberate and 
deadly. But one individual escaped with his life. Whaling fell deeply lamented 
by all. Instead of the rash and unavailing exposure to which he was subjected, 
all admitted his just claim to promotion— grieved that his valuable life was not 
preserved for those services he had so often shown himself so capable of render- 
ing. But by the devotion to the interests of country, and daring intrepidity, 
was the British lion driven from our shores, and the stars and stripes allowed to 
float triumphantly to the breeze. What greater honor can there be than to die 
for one's country? 



A HERO REWARDED. 

In one of the hotly-contested fights in Virginia during the war, a federal 
officer fell wounded in front of the confederate breastworks. While lying there 
wounded and crying piteously for water, a confederate soldier, James Moore, of 
Burke County, North Carolina, declared his intention of supplying him with 
drink. The bullets were flying thick from both sides, and Moore's friends 
endeavored to dissuade him from such a hazardous enterprise. Despite remon- 
strance and danger, however, Moore leaped the breastworks, canteen in hand, 
reached his wounded enemy and gave him a drink. The federal, under a sense 
of gratitude for the timely service, took out his gold watch and offered it to his 
benefactor, but it was refused. The officer then asked the name of the man who 
had braved such danger to succor him. The name was given, and Moore returned 
unhurt to his position behind the embankment. They saw nothing more of each 
other. Moore was subsequently wounded, and lost a limb in one of the engage- 
ments in Virginia, and returned to his home in Burke County. Years afterward 
he received a communication from the federal soldier to whom he had given^ 
the "cup of cold water" on the occasion alluded to, announcing that he had 
settled on him the sum of $10,000, to be paid in four annual installments, of 
$2,500 each. Investigation has established the fact that there is no mistake or 
deception in the matter. 



CHARACTERISTIC REVOLUTIONARY WOMAN. 

When the Revolutionary war broke out Mrs. Elizabeth Martin, one of the 
pioneer mothers "whose bosoms pillowed men," had seven sons old enough to 
enlist in their country's service, and as soon as the call to arms was heard she 
said to them, " Go, boys, and fight for your country ; fight till death if you must, 
but never let your country be dishonored. Were I a man I would go with you." 

Several British officers once called at her house, and while receiving some 
refreshments, one of them asked her how many sons she had. She told him, 
eight; and when asked where they were, she boldly replied, "seven of them are 

4 



98 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

engaged in the service of their country." The officer sneeringly observed that 
she had enough of them. "No, sir, I wish I had fifty!" was her prompt and 
proud reply* Only one of those seven sons was killed during the war. He was 
a captain of artillery, served in the sieges of Savannah and Charleston, and was 
slain at the siege of Augusta. Soon after his death a British officer called on 
the mother, and in speaking of this son, inhumanely told her that ho saw his 
brains blown out on the battle-field. The reply she made to the monster's 
observation was: "He could not have died in a nobler cause." When Charles- 
ton was besieged, she had three sons in the place. She heard the report of 
cannon on the occasion, though nearly a hundred miles west of the city. The 
wives of the sons were with her, and manifested great uneasiness while listening 
to the reports ; nor could the mother control her feelings any better. While 
they were indulging in silent and, as we may suppose, painful reflections, the 
mother suddenly broke the silence by exclaiming, as she raised her hands: 
" Thank God ! They are the children of the republic." 



BOLD ADVENTURE OF A PATRIOTIC GIRL. 

At the time General Greene retreated before Lord Bawdon from Ninety-Six, 
when he had passed Broad River, he was very desirous to send an order to Gen- 
eral Sumter, who was on the Wateree, to join him, that they might attack 
Rawdon, who had divided his force. But the general could find no man in that 
part of the state who was bold enough to undertake so dangerous a mission. 
The country to be passed through for many miles was full of blood-thirsty tories, 
who, on every occasion that offered, imbrued their hands in the blood of the 
whigs. At length Emily Geiger presented herself to General Greene, and pro- 
posed to act as his messenger; and the general, both surprised and delighted, 
closed with her proposal. He accordingly wrote a letter and delivered it, and 
at the same time communicated the contents of it verbally, to be told to Sumter 
in case of accident. Emily was young, but as to her person or adventures on the 
way we have no further information, except that she was mounted on horseback, 
upon a side-saddle, and on the second day of her journey she was intercepted by 
Lord Rawdon's scouts. Coming from the direction of Greene's army, and not 
being able to tell an untruth without blushing, Emily was suspected and con- 
fined to a room; and as the officer in command had the modesty not to search 
her at the time, he sent for an old tory matron as more fitting for that purpose. 
Emily was not wanting in expedient, and as soon as the door was closed and the 
bustle a little subsided, she ate up the letter, piece by piece. After a while the 
matron arrived, and upon searching carefully, nothing was to be found of a sus- 
picious nature about the prisoner, and she would disclose nothing. Suspicion be- 
ing thus allayed, the officer commanding the scouts suffered Emily to depart 
whither she said she was bound: but she took a route somewhat circuitous to 
avoid further detention, and soon after found the road to Sumter's camp, 
where she arrived in safety. Emily told her adventure, and delivered Greene's 
verbal message to Sumter, who, in consequence, soon after joined the main 
army at Orangeburgh. 



OF MEN AND WOIKETf. 



99 







HORACE GREELEY. 

When Horace Greeley died, one of the brightest beacon lights in the journal- 
istic and philanthropic firmament went out, and the diminished rays of his 
greatness became emblems of sadness. During all of his singularly upright and 
honorable career, there was ever the same frankness of spirit and magnanimity 
of purposes displayed. His parents and family were in impecunious circum- 
stances, and this fact above all others contributed in making him " a self-made * 
man." His ancestors were of the severe Scotch-Irish descent, many of whose 
peculiarities were prominent in the composition of his character. After his pa- 
rents had moved to Westlake, Vermont, where the father was barely able to sup- 
port his family, Horace started off alone to East Poultney, a small village, deter- 
mined, if possible, to obtain an apprenticeship as a printer. He was then but 
thirteen years of age, and even long before this immature period he had formed 
the settled purpose of following the "black art." Soon after, his father's family 
moved across the Alleghanies, and settled near Erie, Pennsylvania, where a small 
tract of land was purchased. Even the small amount necessary for this purchase 
greatly impoverished his father and laid another burden on his shoulders. Dur- 
ing the first part of Horace's apprenticeship, he received about twenty dollars a 
year as compensation, besides his board. The greater part of this small sum he 
scrupulously saved, and sent from time to time to his father. This noble trait of 
character is commendable and unusual. The care of his parents was always his 
pleasure, and the assistance which he rendered them on the many different oc- 
casions bespeaks the nobility of his character. From the time he went single 
handed and alone to New York city, illy clad, and almost moneyless, until he 



100 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

attained the proud distinction of "founder of the Tribune," for which the world 
honors and remembers him to-day, until the day of his sad death, he was always 
honored for his honesty, application, promptness, and reliability. The character 
of Horace Greeley is one of which Americans can well be proud, and is a fit ex- 
ample for the youth of the land to study and follow. If the history of his life 
were told in a nut-shell, it would be, " He lived true to himself, and won the 
proud distinction of being the founder of one of the greatest journalistic ven- 
tures of the world." 



A TINY HEROINE. 

It is always pleasant to record examples of child usefulness, and even very 
little children are sometimes, in situations of sudden trial and need, the instru- 
ments of help and rescue. While Mrs. Woodworth was on a visit to her sister, 
Mrs. Smith, residing at Pelican, Minnesota, the latter, one night, was taken 
ill. Mr. Smith was away from home at the time, and there was no one near the 
house to render assistance save Mrs. Woodworth and a little three-year-old 
daughter of Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Woodworth could not leave, so she called little 
Angie and asked her to go to thelaouse of a neighbor, three quarters of a mile 
distant, and summon assistance. The child did as directed in an incredibly short 
space of time, and upon her return with the neighbor it was found necessary to 
summon a physician. It was now nearly dark and a storm was brewing, yet this 
brave little heroine again took the road and went to the nearest neighbor's house, 
a distance of one and a fourth miles in the opposite direction from her first trip, 
where she found a man to go for a physician. Ere her return to her home the 
storm had so increased as to render her progress very slow, and the vivid and 
constant lightning might have stricken terror into" the heart of many an older 
pedestrian ; yet this three-year-old child bravely and faithfully performed her 
mission and returned in safety. 



A BRAVE DEED. 

The scout who led General Gibbon to the scene of Custer's massacre was 
a frontiersman, named Beidler. As soon as the remains of the slaughtered sol- 
diers were buried, General Gibbon wanted to send a messenger to Fort Ellis. 
This was a terrible undertaking; the mountains literally swarmed with hostile 
Sioux. There were ninety-nine chances out of a hundred that the messenger 
would never reach his destination. To order any one to take it was like signing 
a death warrant, and even the brave Gibbon shrank from this. He called up a 
half-dozen men, and proposed to them the undertaking. 

" Boys," said Gibbon, " I can't order you on this desperate hazard, for I believe 
in my soul it is almost certain death, and yet I must do my duty and send the 
message. If none of the scouts will go, I will send my nephew." 

Sitting a few paces apart from the officers and men was Beidler, cleaning his 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 101 

gun and polishing his equipments — a stout, heavy-built man of forty years of age. 
As Gibbon ceased speaking, the frontiersman's voice rose clear and distinct. 

" Never mind, General ; I'll carry your message." 

Gibbon turned toward him in surprise. "What, you, X.? Why, man, I 
couldn't ask you to do such a thing! Besides, you are our guide." 

"Yes, I know; but I don't mind the venture. Any way, I'll carry the message." 

"You know better than I do, X., that it's a deadly venture. I wouldn't have 
dared to ask you." 

" It's all right, General. Get your letter ready and let me have it at dark." 

Then rising to his feet he limped away, for X. Beidler was lame. An Indian 
bullet in one of the wild forays of the border had shattered his hip, and al- 
though the wound had long since healed, it had left him lame for life. Two 
hours later, when the shadows of a mountain twilight were falling thick and 
dusky over the valley, he cautiously rode down the valley of the Little Horn and 
disappeared from view. About the incidents of that desperate ride of four hun- 
dred miles, of his hair-breadth escapes, of his desperate adventures, it would be 
impossible in the limits of an article like this to give anything like an adequate 
description. It will suffice to say that the message was carried. 

Sometime afterward when he was met by friends, he was preparing for his re- 
turn trip down the Yellowstone, and seemed as careless, and talked as uncon- 
cernedly about his exploit as one might speak of a trip to Boonville or St. Louis, 
and yet he had just performed a deed which the boldest frontiersman would 
have shrunk from in dismay. 






THE YOUNG HEROINE OF FORT HENRY. 

The siege of Fort Henry, at the mouth of Wheeling Creek, in Ohio County, 
Virginia, occurred in September, 1777. Of the historical fact most people are 
aware ; yet but few, comparatively, knew how much the little band in the garri- 
son, who held out against thirty or forty times their number of savage assailants, 
were' indebted, for their success, to the courage and self-devotion of a single 
female. The Indians kept up a brisk firing from about sunrise till past noon, 
when they ceased and retired a short distance to the foot of a hill. During the 
forenoon the little company in the fort had not been idle. Among their number 
were a few sharp-shooters, who had burnt most of the powder on hand to the 
best advantage. Almost every charge had taken effect, and probably the sav- 
ages began to see that they were losing numbers at fearful odds, and had doubt- 
less retired for consultation. But they had less occasion for anxiety, just at that 
time, than the men, women and children in the garrison. As already hinted, the 
stock of powder was nearly exhausted. There was a keg in a house ten or twelve 
rods from the gate of the fort, and as soon as the hostilities of the Indians were 
suspended, the question arose, Who shall attempt to seize this prize ? "Strange 
to say, every soldier proffered his services, and there was an ardent contention 
among them for the honor. In the weak state of the garrison, Colonel" Shepard, 
the commander, deemed it advisable that only one person should be spared; and 
in the midst of the confusion, before any one could be designated, a girl named 



102 NOBJ.E AND HEROIC DEEDS 

Elizabeth Zane, interrupted the debate, saying that her life was not so important 
at that time as any one of the soldier's, and claiming the privilege of performing 
the contested service. The colonel would not at first listen to her proposal; but 
she was so resolute, sq persevering in her plea, and her argument was so power- 
ful, that he finally suffered the gate to be opened, and she passed out, The 
Indians saw her before she reached her brother's house, where the keg was 
deposited; but, for some unknown cause, they did not molest her, until she re- 
appeared with the article under her arm. Probably divining the nature of her 
burden, they discharged a volley as she was running toward the gate ; but the 
whizzing balls only gave agility to her feet, and herself and the prize were 
quickly safe within the gate. The result was that the soldiers, inspired with 
enthusiasm by this heroic adventure, fought with renewed courage, and, before 
the keg of powder was exhausted, the enemy raised the siege. 



CAPTAIN PJCHARD GOUGH. 

The magnanimity and independence of spirit of this intrepid officer won him 
great esteem. On one occasion, having been a prisoner, he had been thrown 
into irons and treated with peculiar indignity. A change in the political occur- 
rences of the time, highly favorable to America, having taken place, many of 
the adherents of Britain, repenting the imprudence of their conduct, wished, 
by a full confession of error, to be admitted to the rights of citizenship. An 
American who haof interested himself very highly in favor of an individual sub- 
jected to the penalties of the confiscation law, making an appeal to the humanity 
of Captain Gough, said, "I am sensible that it is only necessary for you to op- 
pose the petition in his behalf, which will be presented to the legislature, to 
ensure its failure." "Make yourself easy, then," was the generous reply. 
"Give me the petition — I will present and support it, and shall be happy if that 
prevents opposition from any other quarter. The war is brought to a happy 
conclusion — my resentments are no more." It gave additional lustre to this act 
of generosity that a little before, while at supper with his aged mother, he had 
been fired upon and desperately wounded by a Tory party from the British 
garrison. 

A PATRIOTIC DONATION. 

When General Greene was retreating through the Carolinas, after the battle 
of the Cowpens, and while at Salisbury, North Carolina, he put up at a hotel, 
the landlady of which was Mrs. Elizabeth Steele. A detachment of Americans 
had just had a skirmish with the British under Cornwallis at the Catawba ford, 
and were defeated and dispersed, and when the wounded were brought to the 
hotel the general no doubt felt somewhat discouraged, for the fate of the south 
and perhaps of the country seemed to hang on the result of this memorable re- 
treat. Added to his other troubles was that of being penniless, and Mrs. Steele, 
learning this fact by accident, and ready to do any thing in her power to further 
the cause of freedom, took him aside and drew from under her apron two bags 



Otf MEN AND WOMEN. 103 

of specie. Presenting them to him she generously said, "Take these, for you 
will want them and I can do without them." Never did relief come at a more 
propitious moment; nor would it be straining conjecture to suppose that he re- 
sumed his journey with his spirits cheered and brightened by this touching proof 
of woman's devotion to the cause of her country. 



HEROIC BOY. 

Calm, true courage, which does quietly what its hand findelh to do, was ex- 
hibited some years ago, by a boy on board a burning steamer on the St. Law- 
rence: Narcisse Lamontayne, aged thirteen years, saved eight children from 
the wreck. He accomplished his noble deed by seizing the door of a state- 
room, placing the children upon it, and pushing it before him while he swam. 
By several such trips he succeeded in landing on a dry rock, or on the beach, 
eight of the children that were on board the ill-fated vessel. A country com- 
posed of such boys has the surest foundation for future greatness. They are the 
boys who make our Washingtons, our Lincolns and our Garfields. 



DARING EXPLOIT OF "TWO REBHUJ" 

During the sieges of Augusta and Cambridge, two young men of the name oi 
Martin, belonging to Ninety-Six district, South Carolina, were in the army. 
Meanwhile their wives, who remained at home with their mother-in-law, dis- 
played as much courage, on a certain occasion, as was exhibited, perhaps, by 
any female during the struggle for independence. Receiving intelligence one 
evening tint a courier, under guard of two British officers, would pass their 
house that night with important dispatches, Grace and Rachel Martin resolved 
to surprise tne party and obtain the papers. Disguising themselves in their hus- 
bands' outer garments and providing themselves with arms, they waylaid the 
enemy. Soon after they took their station by the roadside the courier and his 
escort made their appearance. At the proper moment the disguised ladies sprang 
from their bushy covert, and presenting their pistols, ordered the party to sur- 
render their papers. Surprised and alarmed, they obeyed without hesitation or 
the least resistance. The brave women having put them on parole, hastened 
home by the nearest route, which was a by-path through the woods, and dis- 
patched the documents to General Greene by a single messenger, who probably 
had more courage than the trio that lately bore them. Strange to say, a few 
minutes after the ladies reached home, and just as they had dofied their male 
attire, the officers, retracing their steps, rode up to the house and craved accom- 
modations for the night. The mother of the heroines asked them the cause of 
their so speedy return after passing her house, when they exhibited their paroles 
and said that "two rebels" had taken them prisoners. Here the young ladies, 
in a rallying mood, asked them if they had no arms, to which query they replied, 



104 NOBLE AKD HKBOIC t>SEt>S 

that, although they had, they were arrested so suddenly that they had no time 
to use them. We have only to add that they were hospitably entertained, and 
the next morning took their leave of the women as ignorant of the residence of 
their captors as when first arrested. 



A BARE PROOF OF DEVOTION. 

Not long since F. A. Learett, of Oakland, an engineer in the employ of the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company, and stationed in Arizona, was seriously scald- 
ed by the overturning of his locomotive, and one of his legs was so badly in- 
jured that the flesh fell away. The attending physicians told him that if his 
friends would each contribute a small piece of flesh they could repair the limb 
and restore it to its old usefulness. The statement was widely circulated, and 
twenty-eight of his fellow-workmen volunteered and bravely bared their limbs 
to the surgeon's knife. The transplantation of flesh was successfully made and 
to-day the leg looks almost as natural as does the uninjured member. The heroic 
act of the men was duly rewarded. The railroad company hearing of the case, 
leave of absence was given and two months' extra pay was ordered paid to each 
of the men. 



t A KENTUCKY AMAZON. 

During the summer of 1787, the house of Mr. John Merril, of Nelson county, 
Kentucky, was attacked by the Indians, and defended with singular address and 
good fortune. Merril was alarmed by the barking of a dog about midnight, and 
upon opening the door in order to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, he re- 
ceived the fire of six or seven Indians, by which his arm and thigh were both 
broken. He instantly sank upon the floor and called upon his wife to close the 
door. This had scarcely been done when it was violently assailed by the toma- 
hawks of the enemy, and a large breach soon effected. Mrs. Merril, however, be- 
ing a perfect Amazon, both in strength and courage, guarded it with an ax, and 
successfully killed or badly wounded four of the enemy as they attempted to 
force their way into the cabin. The Indians then ascended the roof , and at- 
tempted to enter by way of the chimney; but here again they were met by the 
same determined enemy. Mrs. Merril seized the only feather bed which the 
cabin afforded, and hastily riping it open, poured its contents upon the fire. A 
furious blaze and stifling smoke instantly ascended the chimney, and brought 
down two of the enemy, who lay for a few moments at the mercy of the lady. 
Seizing the ax she quickly dispatched them, and was immediately sum- 
moned to the door, where the only remaining savage now appeared, endeavoring 
to effect an entrance while Mrs. Merril was engaged at the chimney. He soon 
received a gash in the cheek which compelled him, with a loud yell, to relin- 
quish his purpose, and return hastily to Chillicothe, where, according to the 
report of a prisoner, he gave an exaggerated account of the fierceness, strength, 
and courage of the " long-knife squaw." 




[105] 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 107 



FARADAY, THE PHILOSOPHER. 

The life of Michael Faraday is pre-eminently that of a Christian philosopher, 
and therefore honorable. It is full of beautiful lessons from its opening to its 
close. He was the son of very poor people, who rented two rooms over a stable 
in a London mews; he rose to such high position that he would have been wel- 
comed at the tables of the noblest in the land; j.nd yet he never showed the 
slightest touch of pride. He might have become very rich and very influential 
in worldly respect , but he chose to remain poor and to live a simple life; and 
he has in this respect also left us the choicest example. Scarcely had he shown 
his real capacity when he was assailed with requests to work commercially. At 
first he yielded, made analysis, and at first made money ; but at length the ques- 
tion had to be faced and finally disposed of, whether he was to sink into a com- 
mercial analyst and in a few years become a rich man, or be a great discoverer 
and remain comparatively a poor one. He nobly chose the latter alternative, 
and consistently acted upon it till the end. Only for the state did he depart from 
his rule, as a good citizen, setting his own plans and schemes for a time aside, 
to forward the arms of the crown and so far as in him lay to secure the public 
good. He was thus, without doubt, one of our noblest heroes at the same time 
that he was the finest specimen of the experimental philosopher which England 
ever produced. The flowers which such a man as Faraday gladly gathered in 
the hope of pleasing others and benefiting them, form the best wreath that those 
left behind can weave and cast upon his grave. 



NOBLE PHILANTHROPY. 

The investigator may search over the entire field of philanthropy, he may 
study the lives of the noblest, and yet when he glances over the career and mo- 
tives of Edward Denison, he cannot but be impressed with the fact that his life 
was characterized by the highest disinterested spirit of philanthropy of which 
history tells. Let another tell the story of his life. "One evening, not very 
long ago, I went down to have a look at Philpot Street ; because, in the month 
of July, 1867, a young gentleman took it into his head to engage lodgings there, 
and for the greater part of the year went out and in as regularly as though he 
had fallen into reduced circumstances, and, compelled to catch at whatever 
chance first offered, in desperation, and spite a weakly constitution, had become 
a clerk at one of the neighboring yards or factories. He had not, however, gone 
to Philpot Street out of any necessity, though clearly he had chosen it* as a place 
of residence because it occupied so central a position in the East End. The son 
of a bishop, with high university distinctions, and the prospect before him of a 
great political career, he had hardly reached manhood when he was so deeply 
moved by what he had heard and read of the condition of the poor, that he re- 
solved to devote his life to the study of the question and to the amelioration of 
their condition. His reading and his reflections soon led him to the conclusion 
that there was something fatally defective in the administration of the Poor 



108 



KOBLE AND HEKOIC DEEDS 



Law, while yet indiscriminate charity was the parent of pauperism ; that little 
was to be hoped for from emigration, which, as he conceived; for the most part 
only carried away the sinew from laboring population, who were all wanted at 
home, leaving behind the vicious residuum still to be dealt with, and that those 
who help the poor must devote themselves chiefly to the rising generation, and 
teach them the best way to help themselves. He was desirous to see with his 
own eyes how matters stood ; to come into daily contact with the people, and 
learn their feelings and prejudices, to watch the doings of the guardians and 
others, and, if possible, to suggest practical means of meeting the great difficulty 
of the day. And so, turning his back for a time on Chesham Place, W. Edward 
Denison, then only twenty-seven years of age, " went into residence " at Philpot 
Street, London, to visit the hovels, to teach the children through the day and 
the adults at night, and to play the part generally of a volunteer poor-inspector," 
visiting fever-stricken streets, organizing schools, one of which he kept up en- 
tirely at his own cost, teaching the children, and lecturing to working men at 
nights, while, for a little relief, he read law in his spare time — this was the order 
of the day while Edward Denison dwelt in Philpot Street. Taking into consid- 
eration his great talents, his beautiful character, his steady affection, his capacity 
of self-denial, and his unwearied devotion in the cause he had taken up, the 
grandeur of the hero stands out in bold relief. 



CORNELIA BEEKMAN. 

Mrs. Cornelia Beekman was a daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt, Lieutenant 
Governor of New York from 1777 to 1795; and she seems to have inherited her 
father's zeal for the rights of his country. She was born at the Cortlandt manor 
house, " an old fashioned stone mansion situated on the banks of the Croton 
river," in 1752 ; was married when about seventeen or eighteen, to General G. 
Beekman, and died on the 14th of march, 1847. A few anecdotes will illustrate 
the noble characteristics of her nature : 

A party of tories, under command of Colonels Bayard and Fleming, once en- 
tered her house, and, with a great deal of impudence and in the most insulting 
tone, asked if she was not " the daughter of that old rebel, Pierre Van Cort- 
landt?" "I am the daughter of Pierre Van Cortlandt, but it becomes not such 
as you to call my father a rebel," was her dauntless reply. The person who put 
the question now raised his musket, at which menacing act she coolly repri- 
manded him and ordered him out of doors. His heart melted beneath the fire 
of her eye, and, abashed, he sneaked away. 

In one instance, a man named John Webb, better known at that time as 
"Lieutenant Jack," left in her charge a valise which contained a new suit of 
uniform and some gold. He stated he would send for it when he wanted it. and 
gave her particular directions not to deliver it to any one without a written order 
from himself or his brother Samuel. About two weeks afterward, a man named 
Smith rode up to the door in haste, and asked her husband, who was without, 
for Lieutenant Jack's valise. She knew Smith, and had little confidence in his 
professed whig principles; so she stepped to the door and reminded her husband 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 109 

that it would be necessary for the messenger to show his order before the valise 
could be given. 

" You know me very well, Mrs. Beekman ; and when I assure you that Lieu- 
tenant Jack sent me for the valise, you will not refuse to deliver it to me, as he 
is greatly in want of his uniform." 

"I do know you very well-— too well to give you the valise without a written 
order from the owner or the colonel." 

Soon after this brief colloquy, Smith went away without the valise, and it was 
afterward ascertained that he was a rank tory, and at that very hour in league 
with the British. Indeed, Major Andre was concealed in his house that day, 
and had Smith got possession of Webb's uniform, as the latter and Andre were 
about the same size, it is likely the celebrated spy would have escaped and 
changed the reading of a brief chapter of American history. Who can tell how 
much this republic is indebted to the prudence, integrity, courage and patriotism 
of Cornelia Beekman ? 



HEROISM OF SCHOHARIE WOMEN. 

During the struggle for Independence there were three noted forts in the 
Schoharie settlement, called the Upper, Middle and Lower; and when, in the 
autumn of 1780, Sir John Johnson sallied forth from Niagara, with his five hun- 
dred or more British, tory and German troops, and made an attack on these 
forts, an opportunity was given for the display of patriotism and courage, as 
well by the women of the settlement as by the men. When the Middle fort was 
invested, an heroic and noted ranger named Murphy used hi3 rifle balls so fast 
as to need an additional supply; and, anticipating his wants, Mrs. Angelica 
Vrooman caught his bullet mould, some lead and an iron spoon, ran to her 
father's tent, and there moulded a quantity of bullets amid 

"the shout 
Of battle, the barbarian yell, the bray 
Of dissonant instruments, the clang of arms, 
The shriek of agony, the groan of death." 

While the firing was kept up at the Middle fort, great anxiety prevailed at the 
Upper; and during this time Captain Hager, who commanded the latter, gave 
orders that the women and children should retire to a long cellar, which he 
specified, should the enemy attack him. A young lady named Mary Haggidorn, 
on hearing these orders, went to Captain Hager and addressed him as follows: 
" Captain, I shall not go into that cellar. Should the enemy come ; I will take a 
spear, which I can use as well as any man, and help defend the fort." The cap- 
tain, seeing her determination, made the following reply: "Then take a spear, 
Mary, and be ready at the pickets to repel an attack." She cheerfully obeyed, 
and held the spear at the picket till huzzas for the American flag burst on her 
ear, and told that all was safe. 



110 



NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



PATRIOTIC WOMEN OF OLD MIDDLESEX. 

After the departure of Colonel Prescott's regiment of " minute-men," Mrs. 
David Wright, of Pepperell, Mrs. Job Shattuck, of Groton, and the neighboring 
women, collected at what is now Jewett's Bride, over the Nashua, between Pep- 
perell and Groton, clothed in their absent husbands' apparel, and armed with 
muskets, pitchforks, and such other weapons as they could find ; and having 
elected Mrs. Wright their commander, resolutely determined that no foe to Iree- 
dom, foreign or domestic, should pass that bridge. For rumors were rife that 
the regulars were approaching, and frightful stories of slaughter flew rapidly 
from placs to place and from house to house. Soon there appeared one on 
horseback, supposed to be treasonably engaged in conveying intelligence to the 
enemy. By the implicit command of Sergeant Wright he is immediately arrest- 
ed, unhorsed, searched, and the treasonable correspondence found concealed in 
his boots. He was detained prisoner, and sent to Oliver Prescott, Esq., of 
Groton, and his dispatches were sent to the Committee of Safety. The annals of 
the Revolution furnish scores of such daring maneuveis on the part of the 
heroic women, and to them much of renown must be given that Independence 
was at last proclaimed. 



WALTER POWELL, THE MAN OF BUSINESS. 

The life of Walter Powell is a rich gift to us in the present day. It shows us 
how a man in our own day rose from a comparatively low position to wealth and 
influence, and how he won the love and esteem of all who knew him, sheerly by 
the beauty of his Christian character and the elevated consistency of his life. 
Our young men need to be brought under the savor of such a bright example. 
His life was not remote or distant; he was tried as they are likely to be, and yet 
by grace he was sustained and strengthened. His memoir gives the clearest 
testimony that the best man of business may also be the truest of Christians, 
that there is no necessary opposition between them, that strict justice and high 
principle are the best assurances of success, and that these can only be thor- 
oughly maintained where they spring out of a true religious faith and are quick- 
ened by the sense of duty done under yet higher and more ineffable sanctions 
than they can themselves supply. He was the son of poor but honest parents, 
who, falling into a strait, had emigrated to Van Dieinan's Land. Young 
Walter worked hard and industriously. Many fine traits manifested themselves. 
The first payment he received from his employer he devoted to purchasing for 
his mother a sack of flour and a chest of tea. His sympathy was not confined 
to his own relationship. A poor man lamenting to him the straitness of his 
means and the largeness of his family, Walter suggested the possibility of im- 
proving his circumstances by starting as a dealer. The man replied hopelessly 
that the start required ten pounds — a sum which, in his state of hand to mouth 
dependence, he had no thought of ever possessing. Walter, seeing that his well 
meant advice had only served to make the poor fellow more painfully sensible 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. Ill 

of his utter helplessness, immediately gave him the ten" pounds, although his 
own salary was but one hundred pounds a year. Mr. Powell subsequently went 
to Australia, where he prospered marvelously, and in a few years was very 
wealthy. One instance of his generosity, which gives a glimpse of his nobility 
of character, must not be omitted. Learning that Mr. Hargreave, the discoverer 
of the Australian gold-fields, was very little advantaged by a scientific revela- 
tion which had enriched so many thousands, Mr. Powell sent him anonymously 
£250, as an acknowledgement of his own personal indebtedness and his sense of 
Mr. Hargreave's claim to the public gratitude. He was at once active in busi- 
ness and faithful to conscience and God; full of energy, shrewd and deliberate, 
yet possessed of warm thoughts and impulses ; quick to discern the signs of the 
times, yet never slow to do a brotherly service ; keenly watchful to defeat all 
chicanery and over-reaching, yet never wearied in good works; calculating, yet 
trustful and tender, and more ambitious to benefit others than to hoard up for a 
problematic and distant future. And surely he was in all this the very ideal of 
the Christian merchant. Such a man truly ennobles trade. 



REMARKABLE PRESENCE OF MIND. 

" Full fathom five thy father lies: 
Of his bones are coral made," 

sung Ariel to Ferdinand. Man never escaped that fate by a narrower chance 
than did Captain Hughes. Says a San Francisco paper: 

On the last trip of the schooner Lola from Valiejo to this port, the wind hav- 
ing fallen off, and the vessel being in four fathoms of water, the anchor was let 
go, pursuant to the order of the master, Hughes, who had gone forward to give 
it. As the anchor was let slip, a two-and-a-half-inch line by which a buoy was 
made fast to its chain accidentally took a turn around the master's leg, and 
whipped him over the side and down into the sea. As he went rushing feet first 
to the bottom, he drew and opened a pocket knife, and with one desperate efiort 
of strength against the pressure of the water he stooped downward and severed 
the line, having to cut deeply into the flesh of his leg to do so. As he shot up 
almost as swiftly as he had gone down, he returned his knife to his pocket, and 
when he reached the surface was picked up with only a lanced ankle as the re- 
sult of what would have been a dive to death but for his coolness and nerve. 



HEROIC CONDUCT AT MONMOUTH. 

Most fitting and appropriate are the lines of the poet, Gallagher, when ap- 
plied to the subject of this anecdote: 

Proud were they by such to stand, 

* * * * «.t 

To watch a battling husband's place, 
And fill it should he fall. 

Daring the memorable battle of Monmouth— one long to be remembered in 



112 



NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 



Revolutionary annals— a gunner named Pitcher was killed. At the time he 
fell, his wife, who had followed him to the camp, and thence to the field of con- 
flict, was bringing water to her husband from a spring. A call for some one to 
take the place of the fallen gunner was made. Instantly dropping the pail, the 
wife, Mary Pitcher— a " red-haired, freckeled-f aced Irish woman," who was al- 
ready distinguished for having fired the last gun at Fort Clinton, unhesitatingly 
stepped forward and offerd her services. She hastened to the cannon and seized 
the rammer, and with great skill and courage performed her husband's duty. 
The soldiers gave her the nick-name of " Captain Molly." On the day after the 




MOLLIE PITCHER AT THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 



battle she was presented to General Washington, whose attention had been 
drawn to her act. He expressed his admiration of 'her bearing and her fidelity 
to her country, by conferring on her a sergeant's commission with half pay 
through life. Her bravery made her a great favorite among the French officers, 
and she would sometimes pass along the lines holding out her cocked hat, which 
they would nearly fill with crown pieces. Artemisia was scarcely more service- 
able to Xerxes in the battle of Salamis, than Captain Molly to Washington in 
the battle of Monmouth. One served in a great Grecian expedition, to gratify 
her spirit, vigor of mind, and love of glory ; the other fought, partly, it may be, 
to revenge the death of her husband, but more, doubtless, for the love she bore 
for an injured country, " bleeding at every vein." One was rewarded by a com- 
plete suit of Grecian armor ; the other with a sergeant's commission, and both 
for their bravery. If the Queen of Caria is deserving of praise for her mar- 
tial valor, the name of the heroic wife of the gunner should be woven with hers 
in a fadeless wreath of song. 



Or MEN AND WOMEN. 113 

DAUNTLESS JOHN JORDAN. 

Among the first struggles of the late war was the Big Sandy campaign in Ken- 
tucky. The problem which the Union officers had to solve was, how to unite two 
wings of the army separated by an unknown country infested with roving bands 
of rebels and populated by disloyal people. This junction was to be formed in 
the face of a superior enemy, who would doubtless be apprised of every move- 
ment, and be likely to fall upon the separate columns the moment either was set 
in motion, in the hope of crushing them in detail. Evidently, the first thing to 
be done was to find a trustworthy messenger to convey dispatches between the 
two halves of the army. Colonel Moore, of the Fourteenth Kentucky, was ap- 
plied to. " Have you a man," asked the commanding officer, "who will die 
rather than fail and betray us?" The Kentuckian reflected a moment, then 
answered: " I think I have ; John Jordan, from the head of the Blaine." Jordan 
was sent for, and soon entered the tent of the Union commander. To the colonel 
he seemed a strange combination of cunning simplicity, undaunted courage and 
undoubting faith, but possessed of a quaint sort of wisdom, which ought to have 
given him to histoiy. He was sounded thoroughly, for the fate of the campaign 
might depend upon his fidelity ; but Jordan's soul was as clear as crystal. " Why 
did you come into this war? " at last asked the commander. " To do my part for 
the country, colonel," answered Jordan; "and I made no terms with the Lord. 
I gave him my life without conditions, and if he sees fit to take it in this tramp, 
why, it is his — I have nothing to say against it." " You mean you have come 
into the war not expecting to get out of it?" "I do, colonel." "Will you die 
rather than let this dispatch betaken?" "I wili." The dispatch was written 
on tissue paper, rolled into the form of a bullet, coated with warm lead, and put 
into the hands of Jordan. He was given a carbine and a brace of revolvers, and 
mounting his horse when the moon was down he started on his perilous journey. 
The incidents of that perilous ride, in a hostile and unknown country, were in- 
teresting. Suffice it to say that Jordan delivered his message in safety, and the 
after history of the campaign is told when it is said that the Union wings did 
unite, and drove Humphrey Marshall from the state, thus preventing it from go- 
ing out of the Union at that time. Subsequent exploits of Jordan proved him 
to be as heroic and determined as the present incident would indicate. 



AN UNSELFISH ACT. 

Several years ago a vessel left the harbor at San Francisco for a long voyage. 
Soon after leaving the port the clouds began to gather, the winds increased, and 
all hands were commanded to their posts in case of danger. The storm grew 
more formidable, and the vessel was turned again to the shore for safety. Upon 
nearing the shore an unseen rock stranded the vessel, and she commenced rapid- 
ly to fill. To save the vessel was now a hopeless thing, and everybody was or- 
dered to take to the life-boat and save themselves. The moment was a trying one. 
Between life and death, with the wild billows of the deep lashing the sinking 



114 NOBLE AND HEBOIC DEEDS 

ship, and the heartless elements all combined to give the scene^something of 
peculiar terror. The boats had left for the shore, bearing their precious burdens, 
but some were still on the vessel. A stout, dauntless man still stood on the 
deck. He was engaged in fastening several heavy belts of gold to his waist pre- 
paratory to plunging into the deep and swimming to the shore. Just as he was 
about to leap overboard he saw gazing piteously at him a little helpless girl, who 
begged him to save her life. Without a moment's hesitation, for the situation 
was becoming more trying every moment, he bravely unbuckled the precious 
belts from his body, rushed for the child and bade her cling tightly to his back. 
Rushing once more to the edge of the vessel he plunged overboard into the rag- 
ing deep, sank, and rose again. It was a hard struggle, but he heroically battled 
against the overwhelming odds, and was finally dashed on a rock, severely in- 
jured. Ready and faithful hands were present and rescued the child, who es- 
caped unhurt. They picked up the helpless hero and bore him to a place where 
attention could be given his wounds. It was found that he had sustained very 
serious injuries, such as would prostrate him for months. He was accordingly 
taken to a hospita', whither the little girl followed him; and during all those 
months of anguish and pain, when he was delirious and helpless, that little girl 
remained ever by his side; and when returning strength first began to manifest 
itse f, and he once more opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was his faithful 
nurse, the little girl whom he had so heroically rescued. The hero's name is 
not known, but his memory will not soon be forgotten, and when he comes to 
his final reward that act will form one of the brightest stars in his crown. 



"OH, WHAT WILL MOTHER DO?" 

These were the words of one of the bravest lads that shouldered a musket 
during the Rebel. ion. His name was Charles Carlton, and his home was at 
Franklin, Ohio. His words, repeated in the state senate, aroused Ohio to at once 
make provision for the widows and mothers of its soldiers. The incident occa- 
sioning the remark was one of the many during the Kentucky campaign. Gar- 
field, with his college boys, is repelling an attack of an overwhelming number 
of confederates. For a moment there are signs of wavering, then their leader 
calls out: " Every man to a tree! Give them as good as they send, my br;ive 
Bereans ! " Though they are outnumbered ten to one they are able to hold their 
ground remarkably well. But soon the rebels, exasperated with the obstinate 
resistance, rush from cover and charge upon the little handful with the bayonet. 
Slowly they are driven down the hill, and two of them fall to the ground wound- 
ed. One never rises; the other, a lad of only eighteen, is shot through the 
thigh, and one of his comrades turns back to bear him to a place of safety. The 
advancing foe are within thirty feet, when one of them fires, and his bullet 
strikes a tree directly above the head of the Union soldier. He turns, levels his 
musket, and the foeman is in eternity. Then the rest are upon him ; but, zig- 
zagging from tree to tree, he is soon with his driven column. But not far are the 
brave boys driven. A few rods lower down they hear the voice of their leader: 
" To the trees again, my boys ; " he cries " we may as well die here as in Ohio 1 " 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 115 

To the trees they go, and in a moment the advancing horde is checked and then 
rolled backward. Up the hill they turn, firing as they go, and the little band 
follows. Soon the confederates reach the spot where the Berean boy lies wound- 
ed, and one of tliem says to him: " Boy, guv me yer musket" "Not the gun 
but its contents," returns the lad, and the rebel falls mortally wounded. An- 
other raises his weapon to brain the prostrate lad, but he, too, falls, killed with 
his comrade's own rifle, and all this is done while the hero-lad is on the ground 
bleeding. An hour afterward his comrades bear him to a sheltered spot on the 
other side of the streamlet, and then the first word of complaint escapes him. 
As they are taking off his leg, he says, in his agony : u Oh, what will mother 
do?" There can be but little surprise felt that the Union cause was victorious, 
when such instances of bravery and devotion were so common among the soldiers. 



WOMAN'S FIRMNESS. 

In a New York village there resided a widow named Smith, who had sent four 
sons to the rebellion — two of whom were minors — leaving behiud them only 
two sisters. After a while two of them returned home, Nathaniel Smith, a mem- 
ber of the Eighteenth Regiment, and the other a member of the Seventh Artillery, 
the latter on a furlough. One night there was to have been a jubilee at the house 
of their uncle, given in honor of the boys' return, and they had set off to meet 
companions, when, unexpectedly, officer Burt stepped up to Nathaniel and ar- 
rested him as a deserter. This was so unlooked for that he almost fainted on 
the spot. It appears that Nathaniel had deserted the regiment just previous to 
the second Bull Run battle, and since that time had been loitering about Wash- 
ington and Alexandria, wholly unknown to the authorities in those places. 
He had enlisted at the breaking out of the Rebellion, and had he remained with 
his regiment he would have been mustered out of service in May. But he deserted 
eight months before his time was out, and consequently was compelled to make 
good that loss. After a parley with the officer who arrested him the latter con- 
sented to go with him back to his mother's house; and here a scene ensued 
which shows the earnest patriotism of a true woman's heart. Upon being in- 
formed of the circumstances she burst into a flood of tears and said: "I have 
sacrificed four sons to my country — two minors. I have buried my husband and 
children ; but I have never known what trouble and grief were before. To have 
one brought back as a deserter is more than I can stand. I do not blame the 
officers for doing their duty, but I do you for deserting. Go, my son, you are 
bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. I would rather have seen you brought home 
a corpse, than to find you alive, branded as a deserter. But go, my son ; do your 
duty as a man and a soldier, remember that your mother's prayers are with you, 
and do not come home again until you can come as a man who has nothing to 
fear." While his mother was still engaged in talking to him in strains of sorrow 
and regret, his aunt came in — feeble in health, but strong in feeling. Mortified 
that he had deserted his comrades, she appealed to him as a lover of his coun- 
try and a member of the family, to go back to the army and do his whole duty 



116 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

as a soldier and not return again until he had served his time out The" moth- 
er's and aunt's tears were too much for the soldier, for they both wept tears of 
regret. With their blessings, the soldier left them, promising henceforth to be a 
man, a true soldier, and not to return home until discharged. 



YOUNG KNIGHTLY HEROES. 



Two incidents of the praiseworthy deeds of boys form the basis of this sketch. 
One of the boys lives at Bay City, Michigan, and is named Kinderman. He has 
lost his right arm, but he did heroic work with his left. He and a younger 
brother were once fishing on Lake Michigan in a small boat, which a passing 
propeller upset Young Kinderman seeing that his brother was likely to drown, 
seized him by the hair with his teeth and struck out for the shore. He swam 
with his left arm, until a boat which had put out from the shore picked him up. 

The other young knight lives in Springfield, Mass., and at the time of the 
occurrence attended the high school of that city. While walking along the 
street he saw a dog making for a five-years-oid boy, who was playing, not think- 
ing of danger. The dog, apparently, was mad, for it held its head low and 
frothed at the mouth. Stepping at once in front of the child, the young hero, as 
soon as the dog came up, kicked it over. Then throttling it with one hand, he 
pounded its head with a stick until he killed it. In the terrible struggle the dog 
so bit him on the wrist as to leave three tooth-marks. These, when the dog was 
dead, he cauterized by coolly holding them over the flame of lighted matches. 
The child was uninjured. Some fifty years ago all England rang with the praises 
of Thomas Rowell Buxton — afterward Sir Thomas — for catching a mad dog, 
which was making toward a group of ladies, and holding it until chained. 
Buxton, however, was a stalwart Englishman with the strength of a Hercules. 
The Springfield hero was but a boy, who staked his life for a child. 



ch. 

IftS 



GOULD, THE HERO OF CORINTH. 

In the heat of the conflict, the Ninth Texas Regiment bore down upon the left 
center of the Twenty-Seventh Ohio Regiment with their battle flag at the head 
of the column, when Orrin B. Gould, a private of Company G, shot down the 
color-bearer and rushed forward for the confederate flag. A confederate Officer 
shouted to his men to "save the colors!" and, at the same moment, put a bullet 
into the breast of Gould. But the young hero was not to be intimidated, with 
his flag-staff in his hand and the bullet in his breast he returned to his regiment, 
waving the former defiantly in the faces of the enemy. After the battle, on vis- 
iting the hospitals, Colonel Fuller, of the Twenty-Seventh Ohio, commanding 
the first brigade, second division, found young Gould stretched upon a cot, ap- 
parently in great pain. Upon seeing him, his face became radiant, and, pointing 
to his wound he said, " Colonel, I don't care for this, since I got their flag." 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



m 



PAUL REVERE. 

Can any one ever estimate the length and breadth of the bravery of the Revolu- 
tionary patriots? More sacred then than life itself was their country to them ; and 
the haughty attitude of the mother country toward the feeble colonies only the 
firmer knit together their hopes and fears and their spirit of honest antagonism. 
In such a spirit was it that the daring deeds of men like Paul Revere were 
brought into existence. The midnight ride and the sounding of the alarm by 
this brave hero have long been lauded in poetry and song. Lexington is mem- 
orable as the scene of the first armed encounter in the Revolutionary contest. 
On the night of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere, of Boston, eluding the British sen- 
tinels, escaped into the country across Charles river and spread information of the 
intended march of a detachment of British troops to seize the provincial stores 
and the common at Concord. Lieutenant-Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, 
with a body of eight hundred British regulars, had, unnoticed, left Boston, and 




r'ALL REVEKE'S MIDNIGHT RIDE. 



soon were on the road to Concord. The moon shone brightly from the clear sky, 
and they moved on rapidly. To defeat the objects of this secret march of the 
British, Paul Revere rode as never a hero rode before. By preconcerted arrange- 
ment the light beaming from the tower of the old North church was to tell the 
moment their march began.* From this quarter at last streamed a beacon light, 
while our hero was already far ahead announcing their coming. There was — 

" A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 
f Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet." 

Soon the distant ringing of bells and firing of guns told the troops that the 
alarm was spreading. When they reached Lexington at dawn they found a small 



118 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

company of minute-men gathering on the village green. Riding up, Pitcairn 
shouted : "Disperse, you rebels ! Lay down your arms ! " " Too few to resist, 
too brave to fly," they hesitated. Discharging his pistol he cried aloud to his 
troops, "Fire! 'J The fate of the nation was with the dauntless Revere. The 
alarm spread fast, and the limited means of defense were brought iuto play. The 
first onset of the regulars was disastrous to the American cause, but bravery and 
determination such as these men possessed will not, cannot, be overcome. The 
result of Paul Revere's brave act cannot be measured. His was of that Unselfish 
devotion to principle and country which is always honorable. 



THE HEROINE OF MATAGORDA. 

Did history not make mention of the achievement of our present heroine, it 
would not only do^her injustice but the cause also in which she was interested. 

In one of the old British battles the tempest had lasted for thirty hours, and 
sixty-four men out of one hundred and forty had fallen. The fort was not more 
than one hundred yards square ; and " Here," says Napier, " be recorded an ac- 
tion of which it is difficult to say whether it was most feminine or heroic." The 
action referred to, as detailed in "The Eventful Life of a Soldier," won the wo- 
man for long after the sobriquet of " The Heroine of Matagorda." She was the 
wife of Sergeant Reston, of the Scots brigade. Under fire she tore up her linen 
to furnish bandages for the wounded; and water being wanted, a drummer boy 
was ordered to draw some from a well, but the scared child did not seem much 
inclined to the task, and lingered at the door of the hut with the bucket in his 
hand. "Why don't you go for the water?" asked the surgeon, angrily. "The 
puir bairn is frightened," said Mrs. Reston, "and no wonder; gie the bucket to 
me." And under all that storm she proceeded coolly to the well, procuring 
water for the wounded. General Napier states that a shot cut the bucket-rope 
in her hand, but she recovered it, and*fulfilled her mission. "Her attention to 
the wounded was beyond all praise," says Sergeant Donaldson, of the 94th; 
"she carried sand-bags for the repair of the batteries, and handed ammunition, 
wine and water to the men at the guns. I think I see her yet," he adds, "while 
the shot and shell were flying thick around her, bending her body to shield her 
child from danger by the exposure of her own person." She died at an old age 
in Glasgow, without other token to her merit than that accorded by the humble 
book of her husband's comrade. 



ALL A MOTHER CAN DO. 

At the time of the first call for volunteers to strike down the Rebellion, a 
matronly lady, accompanied by her son, a fine youth of about nineteen years, 
entered a gun store on Broadway, New York, and purchased a full outfit for 
him; selecting the best weapons and other articles for a soldier's use, that could 
be found in the store, she paid the bill, remarking, with evident emotion, " This, 
my son, is all that I can do, I have given you up to serve your country, and may 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 119 

God go with you. It is all that a mother can do." The scene attracted con* 
siderable attention, and tearful eyes followed that patriotic mother and her 
son as they departed from the place. 



INTREPIDITY OF MRS. ISRAEL. 

During the Revolution Israel Israel, a true Whig and a worthy farmer, resid- 
ing on the banks of the Delaware, near Wilmington, was, for a short time, a 
prisoner on board the frigate Roebuck, directly opposite his own house and 
land. While thus situated, it was reported by some loyalists by whose treachery 
he had been betrayed into the hands of the enemy, that he had said repeatedly 
that " He would sooner drive his cattle as a present to George Washington than 
to receive thousands of dollars in British gold for them." The commander hear- 
ing the report, to be revenged on the rebel sent a small detachment of soldiers 
to drive his cattle, which were in plain sight of the frigate, down to the Del- 
aware, <;nd have them slaughtered before their owner's eyes. Mrs. Israel, who 
was young and sprightly, and brave as a Spartan, seeing the movements of the 
soldiers as she stood in her doorway, and divining their purpose as they marched 
toward the meadow where t.,e cattle were grazing, c died a boy about eight years 
old, and started off in great haste to defeat, if possible, their marauding pro- 
ject. They threatened and she defied, till at last they fired at her. The cattle, 
more terrified than she, scattered over the fields; and as the balls flew thicker 
she called on ihe little boy "Joe " the louder and more earnestly to help, deter- 
mined that the as>ai ants should not have one ( f the cattle. They did not. She 
drove them all into the b rn-yard, when the soldiers, out of respect to her cour- 
age, or for some other cause, ceased their molestations and returned to the 
frigate. 



AN OBSCURE PATRIOT. 

Strategy oftentimes manifests a spirit of more bravery and undaunted courage 
than is generally conceded. During the Rebellion much was accomplished on 
both sides by this forcible agent. One of the most striking illustrations of this 
fact is related of a noble boy. The fact that General Buckner did not take the 
city of Louisville instead of stopping at Green River, where he invaded Ken- 
tucky on the line of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, was due, not to any 
foresight or force of the United States authorities or of the Union men of Ken- 
tucky, but to the loyalty, courage and tact of one obscure individual. The seces- 
sionists had laid their plans to appear suddenly in Louisville with a powerful 
force. They had provided for transportation four hundred cars and fifteen loco- 
motives, and had eight thousand men, with artillery and camp equipage, on 
board. They had secured the services of the telegraph operators, one of whom 
forwarded to Louisville a dispatch explaining the detention of the trains on the 
road, and things were moving along in good order. Louisville, with perhaps a 
few exceptions on the part of some secessionists, was unsuspecting and unguard- 



120 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

ed — General Anderson being innocent of any knowledge of the movement. But 
at a station just beyond Green River there was a young man in the service of 
the road who was a warm friend of the Union cause, and who, comprehending 
the meaning of the monster train when it came up, seized a crowbar used for 
taking up rails to make repairs, and while the locomotives were being wooded 
and watered, ran across a curve, and in a deep, narrow cut wrenched the spikes 
from four rails. The train came along at good speed; the rails spread, the loco- 
motive plunged into the ground, the cars crashed on the top of it, and it was 
twenty-four hours before the train could go ahead. In the meantime Louisville 
was saved. The hero of the occasion had not had time to get out of the cut be- 
fore the crash came, and was taken, but in the general confusion got away and 
was safe. That obscure individual did much, more for his country than some 
who wore stars and straps. 



NOTHING LOST BY TRUE COURAGE. 

An illustration of the spirit of the brave men who fought the battle of good 
government against treason will be found in the following — though this is but 
one of a thousand similar noble and heroic instances : 

A New Hampshire regiment had been engaged in several successive battles, 
very bloody and very desperate, and in each engagement had been distinguish- 
ing themselves more and more; but their successes had been very dearly bought, 
both in men and officers. Just before the taps the word came that the fort they 
had been investing was to be stormed by daybreak the next morning, and they 
were invited to lead the " forlorn hope." For a time the brain of the colonel 
fairly reeled with anxiety. The post of honor was the post of danger, but in 
view of all circumstances would it be right, by the acceptance of such a proposi- 
tion, to involve his already decimated regiment in utter annihilation? He called 
his long and well-tried chaplain into council with him, and, asking what was 
best to be done, the chaplain advised him to let the men decide for themselves. 
At the colonel's request he stated to the regiment all the circumstances. Not 
one in twenty, probably, would be left alive after the first charge ; scarcely one 
of the entire number would escape death, except as they would be wounded or 
taken prisoners. Having submitted the matter to the soldiers the chaplain told 
them to "Think it over calmly and deliberately, and come back at twelve o'clock 
and let us know your answer." True to the appointed time they all returned. 
"'All?" was the interrogatory. " Yes, sir, all, without exception, and all of them 
ready for service or for sacrifice." "Now," said the chaplain, "go to your tents 
and write your letters; settle all your wordly business, and whatever sins you 
have upon your consciences unconfessed or unforgiven, ask God to forgive them. 
As usual, I will go with you, and the Lord do with us as seemeth him good." 
The hour came, the assault was made; onward those noble spirits rushed into 
"the imminent deadly breach," right into the jaws of death. But, like Daniel 
when he was thrown into the lions' den, it pleased God that the lions' mouths 
should be shut. Scarcely one hour before the enemy had secretly evacuated the 
fort, and the "forlorn hope" entered into full possession, without the loss of a 
single man. 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 121 

RIGHT ARM STILL LEFT 

Our country can never fully repay the courageous sacrifices made by the gal- 
lant boys in blue during the late war drama. The wounds, the haggard expres- 
sions, and the broken constitutions tell a tale of horror and bloodshed, all for 
the love of country. Is there any reason, then, why the government, made 
secure by their sufferings, should not amply repay them so far as it is possible ? 
Judge Kelly once entered the office of Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, having 
with him a youthful looking officer whose empty coat-sleeve hung from his left 
shoulder. He was introduced to the secretary as Brevet Lieutenant Harry Rock- 
afellow, of Philadelphia. "My friend," said the judge, "left a situation worth 
eight hundred dollars a year, three days after the president's proclamation for 
troops, to carry a musket at eleven dollars a month, with his regiment, the New 
York seventy-first. After the term of his enlistment had expired, he marched 
with his regiment to Bull Run. Early in the day he received that ugly rifle ball 
in his mouth" — pointing to a minnie ball that hung to his watch key — "and for 
two hours and a half he carried it in his fractured jaw-bone, fighting like a true 
hero until a cannon ball took/off his arm and rendered him powerless. He was 
captured, and for three long months lay in a mangled condition in a tobacco 
warehouse in Richmond without proper surgical treatment. He was breveted a 
lieutenant by his colonel for his bravery, and is now filling a small clerkship. I 
beg of you to appoint him in the regular service." " But where could I put 
him if I were to?" said Mr. Stanton. The judge was about to reply, when the 
young man raised his arm and said, with an anxious look: "See, I have a right 
arm still, and General Kearney has only his left. Send me into the line, where 
there is fighting to be done ! I have letters from " He tried to draw a bun- 
dle of letters from his pocket. Mr. Stanton stopped him. "Put up your 
letters, sir; you have spoken for yourself. Your wish shall be granted. The 
country cannot afford to neglect such men as you ! " Ere- the soldier could 
thank him for his kindness, the case was noted. He turned to leave, and re- 
marked to the judge: "I shall be proud of my commission, for I feel that I 
have earned it. This day is the proudest one of my whole life ! " His head 
seemed so light that he appeared not to realize the loss he had met with, nor the 
weary nights and long, long days he had suffered in the vile prisons of the 
enemy. Such sentiments and such incidents are but the results of patriotism 
and bravery, which the boys in blue so largely possessed. 



A WOUNDED HERO. 

A very remarkable and praise-worthy incident is related of a young man, a 
soldier of the thirty -first regiment of Illinois volunteers, when in the battles of 
the Rebellion. In one of the conflicts he received a musket-shot wound in the 
right thigh, the ball passing through the intervening flesh and lodging in the left 
thigh. The boy repaired to the rear and applied to the surgeon to dress his 
wound. He, however, was observed to manifest a peculiar reserve in the matter, 
requesting the doctor to keep his misfortune a secret from his comrades and 



122 NOBLE AND HEP.OIC DEEDS 

officers. He then asked the surgeon if he would dress his wound at onee, in 
order that he might be enabled to return to the fight. The physician told him 
that he was in no condition to return, and that he had better go to the hospital; 
but the young brave insisted upon going back, offering as an argument in favor 
of it the fact that he had fired twenty-two rounds after receiving his wound, and 
he was confident he could fire as many more after his wound should be dressed. 
The surgeon found ha could not prevent his returning to the field, so he attend- 
ed to his wants, and the young soldier went off to rejoin his comrades in their 
struggles, and remained dealing out his ammunition to good account until the 
clay was over, as if nothing had happened him. Several days after he returned 
to the doctor to have his wound re-dressed, and continued to pay him dai]y 
visits in his leisure hours, attending to duty in the meantime. 



TENDER BURIAL OF A UNION DRUMMER BOY BY TWO GIRLS. 

The following incident is as touching as it is tender and heroic : 
After the battle of Bean Station, the confederate soldiers gave loose play to all 
manner of indignities toward the slain. They stripped their bodies, and shot 
persons who came near the battlefield to show any attention to the dead. The 
body of a little drummer boy was left naked and exposed. Near by, in an 
humble house, there were two young girls, the eldest but sixteen, who resolved to 
give the body a decent burial. They took the night for their task. With a 
hammer and nails in haii."!, and boards on their shoulders, they sought the place 
where the body of the^dead drummer boy lay. From their own scanty ward obe 
they clothed the body for the grave. With their own hands they made a rude 
coGn in which they tenderly put the dead body. They dug the grave and 
lowered the body into it, and covered it over. The noise of the hammering 
brought some of the rebels to the spot; the sight was too much for them. Not 
a word was spoken, no one interfered; and when the sacred rites of the burial 
were performed all departed, and the little dummer boy lay in undisturbed rest 
in the grave dug by gentle maiden's hands on the battle field. Such tenderness 
and devotion deserves to run along the line of coming generations with the story 
of the woman who broke the alabaster box on the loved head of the Savior, and 
with her who of her penury cast her two mites into the treasury. 



SENTIMENTS OF A DYING SOLDIER. 

At a public meeting in Boston, Mr. Gough once said : "Not long since I was 
in a hospital, and saw a young mm, twenty-six years of age, pale and emaciated, 
with his shattered arm resting upon an oil-silk pillow; and there he had been 
for many long weary weeks, waiting for sufficient strength for an amputation. 
I knelt by his side and said: ' Will you answer me one question ?' 'Yes, sir,' 
was his reply. 'Suppose you were well, at home, in good health, and knew all 
this would come to you if you enlisted, would you enlist? ' 'Yes, sir/ he an- 
swered in a whisper, 'I would in a minute! What is my arm or my life, com- 
pared with the safety of the country?' That was patriotism of the genuine 
brand," 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 



123 




A TYPICAL AMERICAN HERO— JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



The life and character of all others which the American people delight to 
honor and which the whole civilized world admires for its bravery, nobility, and 
heroic devotion to duty, is that of James A. Garfield. The incidents of his life 
are numerous and interesting, but in none is a spirit other than integrity and 
honesty of purpose manifested. The life of Garfield is the one which to-day is 
molding the character of the rising generation, and its influence will be felt as 
long as Americans love to honor the deeds of a hero. There is nothing of affect- 
ation in professing love for the martyred president. The awful trial that came 
so suddenly after his new honors, he bore without a murmur. In that unparal- 
leled affliction all classes of the people were drawn to him, watched by his bed- 
side, prayed for him day and night through the melancholy hours of his illness, 
and felt as if he belonged to them. Through all his life, as a boy and man, as a 
soldier, as a statesman and a president, but one controlling purpose runs. 

The^arly years of our hero's life were passed in uncomfortable poverty. But 
referring to this in afterlife, he gives us the key-note of his life and the motives 
which spurred him onward. In an address to the students of Hiram College he 



124 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

said: "Poverty is uncomfortable, as I can testify, but nine cases out of ten the 
best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and com- 
pelled to sink or swim for himself. In all my acquaintance I never knew a man 
to be drowned who was worth the saving." Deprived of a father's care when of 
very tender age, he was early compelled to do for himself, and almost the first 
words that his lips made audible pledged attention and care for his mother. 
When James was twelve years of age the family were still in indigent circum- 
stances. The embryo president has obtained a few tools with which he shows 
great dexterity. He mends the chairs, puts latches and hinges on the doors, and 
is so handy that his brother Thomas says he will "surely be a carpenter some 
day and build houses." During the winters the children were permitted to 
attend school for a short time, and now our hero's eagerness for books begins to 
manifest itself. Fired by reading the exciting recitals of Napoleon's victories, 
he once exclaimed enthusiastically: "Mother, when I get to be a man I am go- 
ing to be a soldier.'" 

Every reader is acquainted largely with our subject's early life. Of his ex- 
perience as canal hand, his early conversion, life at Hiram, and college experi- 
ence at Williams, the many recitals have made them seemingly trite and common. 
When "Lincoln's famous manifesto went forth to the country, Garfield was in the 
Ohio Senate. At the call being read in the Senate for seventy-five thousand 
men, Senator Garfield was instantly on his feet, and amid the tumultuous accla- 
mations from the assemblage, moved that twenty thousand troops and three 
millions of money should be at once voted as Ohio's quota! His speech was 
immediately illustrated by offering his own services in any capacity Governor 
Dennison might choose. That he should uphold the flag was demanded both by 
patriotism and by the logic of the republican doctrine that he had so nobly, so 
bravely upheld. It was but the second stage of resistance to slavery. While 
waiting a wider field he occupied himself with the arming of the militia or any 
measure that had for its object the advancement of the plans then in progress. 
Subsequently he was offered the lieutenant-colonelcy of the forty-second Ohio 
regiment, but did not accept the proffered command hastily. Not caring to 
grasp the glitter of command with the avidity of an aspirant for honors, he went 
home, opened his mother's Bible and pondered upon the subject. He had a 
wife, a child, and a few thousand dollars. If he gave his life to the country, 
would God and the few thousand dollars provide for his wife and child? Final- 
ly deciding in the affirmative, he wrote a friend as follows: "I regard my life as 
given to the country. I am only anxious to make as much of it as possible be- 
fore the mortgage on it is foreclosed." In the field as elsewhere Garfield was 
ever true to himself, and his brilliant actions especially in the Kentucky cam- 
paign and in the battle of Chickamauga will never be forgotten. While in the 
South Garfield received a letter informing him of his nomination to congress 
from the Ashtabula district, which upon consultation with his co-officers he de- 
cided to accept. Rosecrans, in advising him upon the subject, said: "Be true 
to yourself, and you will make your mark before the country." How much of 
truth that sentiment contained the great general himself did not then imagine. 
After a week or two further service, he was sent as bearer of dispatches to 
Washington. He there learned of his promotion to a major-generalship of vol- 



OF MEN AND WOMEN. 125 

unteers "for gallant and meritorious conduct at the battle of Chiokamauga." 
The certainty of assignment to important commands seemed to augur a brilliant 
future. No man had a keener sense of justice than General Garfield. One day 
a fugitive slave came rushing into the camp with a bloody head and apparently 
frightened almost to death. He had only passed my tent, says a staff officer of 
Genera] Sherman, when in a moment a regular bully of a fellow came riding up 
and with a volley of oaths began to ask after his "nigger." General Garfield 
was not present, and he passed on to the division commander, who happened to 
be a sympathizer with the theory that fugitives should be returned to their mas- 
ters, and that the Union soldiers should be made instruments for returning them. 
He accordingly wrote a mandatory order to General Garfield, in whose command 
the darkey was supposed to be hiding, telling him to hunt up and deliver over 
the property of the outraged citizen. The staff officer who brought the order 
stated the case fully to General Garfield before handing him the order, well 
knowing the general's strong anti-slavery views. The general took the order, 
and after reading it carefully, deliberately wrote on it the following indorse- 
ment: "I respectfully but positively decline to allow my command to search for 
or deliver up any fugitive slaves. I conceive that they are here for quite an- 
other purpose. The command is open and no obstacles will be placed in the 
way of the search." When the staff officer read the general's indorsement, he 
was inclined to be frightened and remonstrated with Garfield's determination. 
He said if he returned the order in that shape to the division commander he 
certainly would arrest and court-martial the writer. To this the Ohio general 
replied: "The matter may as well be tested first as last. Right is right, and I do 
not propose to mince matters at all. My soldiers are here for far other purposes 
than hunting and returning fugitive slaves." As was natural, the division com- 
mander was highly incensed, and sent for Garfield at once. The brave general 
stoutly defended his position, and gave his superior such a lecture as to make 
him think possibly he was in the wrong. No court-martial was ordered, and 
thereafter the division commander refrained from issuing orders on the subject 
of slavery. In the battle of Chickamauga Garfield was one of the principal 
actors, and his bravery there will ever appear in brightest hues. 

" Undaunted 'mid the whirlwind storm of war, 

The shock of surging foes, the wild dismay 

Of shattered legions swept in blood away, 
While the red conflict, thundering afar, 

Raged on the left — yet all unseen, unknown — 

Great chieftain ! man of men ! 'twas thine alone, * 
With faith and courage high, the guiding star 

Of that disastrous field, to seek the fray 

Where still the hosts of Union hold their own, 
With wasting lines that stand, and strive, and bleed, 

Waiting the promise of a better day. 
O steadfast soul ! O heart of oak ! No harm 
Could reach thee then : thou hadst for shield His arm 
Who kept thee for the nation's later need." 

So sudden was that famous rout made that the stream of fugitives, swarming 
back from the woods, was the first information received by the Union officers 



126 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS 

that the line had been pierced. There was no time to be lost Behind the flee- 
ing troops came the iron columns of the enemy. Hastily gathering his precious 
maps, Garfield followed Eosecrans, on horseback, over to the Dry Valley road. 
Here Garfield dismounted, and exerted all his power to stem the tide of retreat. 
Snatching a flag from a flying color-bearer he shouted at the deaf ears of the 
mob. Seizing men by the shoulders he would turn them around, and then grasp 
others to try and form a nucleus to resist the flood. It was useless. The mo- 
ment he would take his hands off a man he would run. Rejoining Eosecrans, who 
believed that the entire army- was routed, the commander said: " Garfield, what 
can be done ?" Undismayed by the panic stricken army crowding past him, 
which is said to be the most demoralizing and unnerving sight on earth, Garfield 
calmly said, " One of us should go to Chattanooga, secure the bridge in case of 
total defeat, and collect the fragments of the army on a new line. The other 
should make his way, if possible, to Thomas, explain the situation, and tell him 
to hold his ground at any cost, until the army can be rallied at Chattanooga." 
"Which will you doT } asked Eosecrans. "Let me go to the front," was General 
Garfield's instant reply. "It is dangerous," said he, "but the army and country 
can better afford for me to be killed than for you." After a brief consultation, 
a painful suspense, a few more hurried *words, then a grasp of the hands, and 
the commander and chief of staff separated, the one to go to the rear, the other 
to the front. Eosecrans has said that he felt Garfield would never come back 
again. Then began that world-famous ride. No one knew the situation of the 
troops, or the cause of the disaster, and the way to retrieve it, like the chief of 
staff. To convey that priceless information to Thomas, Garfield determined to 
do or die. It was a race between the rebel column and the noble steed on which 
Garfield rode. Up and down the stony valley road, sparks flying from the horses' 
heels, two of Garfield's comrades hatless, and all breathless, without delay or 
doubt, on dashed the heroes. Still the enemy was between them and Thomas. 
At last Garfield said, "We must try to cross now or never. In a half hour it will 
be too late for us to do any good." Turning sharply to their right, they found 
themselves in a dark, tangled forest. They were scratched and bleeding from 
the brier thickets and the overhanging branches. But not a rider checked his 
horse. General Garfield's horse seemed to catch the spirit of the race. Over 
ravines and fences, through an almost impenetrable undergrowth, sometimes 
through a marsh, and then over broken rocks, the smoking steed plunged with- 
out a quiver. Suddenly they came upon a cabin, a Confederate pest house. A 
crowd of unfortunates, in various stages of the smali-pox were sitting and lying 
about the lonely-and avoided place. The other riders spurred on their way, but 
General Garfield reined in sharply and, calling in a kind tone to the strongest of 
the wrecks, asked, "Can I do anything for you, my poor fellow?" In an instant 
the man gasped out, "Do not come near. It is small-pox. But for God's sake 
give us money to buy food." Quick as thought the great-hearted chief of staff 
drew out his purse and tossed it to the man, and with a rapid but cheerful "good- 
by," spurred after his companions. Crashing, tearing, plunging, rearing, 
through the forest dashed the steed. Poet's song could not be long in celebrat- 
ing that daring deed. All the while General Garfield was in the most imminent 
danger. But of personal danger he never thought. The great fear in«his mind 






Off MEN AND WOMEN. 127 

was that he would fail to reach Thomas. At last they reached a cotton-field. If 
the enemy was near it was almost certain death. Suddenly a rifle-ball whizzed 
past Garfield's face. Turning in his saddle he saw the fence on the right glitter- 
ing with murderous rifles. A second later a shower of bullets rattled around 
the little party. Garfield shouted, "Scatter, gentlemen, scatter/' and wheeled 
abruptly to the left. The two orderlies with him fell, and viarfield became the 
single target for the enemy. His own horse received two balls, but the noble 
animal kept straight on at a terrific speed. General Garfield, speaking of it 
afterward, said that his thought was divided between poor Thomas, and his 
young wife and child in the little home at Hiram. With a few more leaps he 
gained a place of safety. Thomas was yet a mile away, but the brave Garfield 
was soon by his side, explaining the nature of the situation. W ile so doing 
his noble horse, which had borne him on his memorable ride, dropysd dead. It 
was a terrible struggle ; and the storm of battle raged with fearful power. But 
all the valor and all the fury of the Confederates was in vain. "George A. 
Thomas," in the words of Garfield, " was indeed the * rock of Chickamauga/ 
against which the wild waves of battle dashed in vain. The field was saved to 
the Union army, and that act which more than all others contributed to the vic- 
tory was the brave, clear-headed, dauntless, courageous ride of General Garfield. 
The spirit of bravery, which finds its highest expression in this exploit, was 
always a prominent part of Garfield's character. 

Even when the great party of his choice had made him their standard bearer, 
and it was plain that the highest honors at the disposal of the nation were about 
to be showered upon him, he was still the same unpretentious, noble man. As 
the time for the election approached, it became more and more apparent to his 
friends that the mere question of his personal success or failure was insignificant 
to him as a factor in the contest. He wished for success infinitely more for the 
sake of the gratification it would give to his friends than for any power, emolu- 
ment or honor that should come to him. Bidding a near friend good- y only a 
few days before the election, he said, with a touch of almost boyish humor, 
"You will not think any the less of me if I am not elected, will you?" Soon 
after -the election General Garfield announced his purpose to be "a first-class 
listener," and patiently and philosophically received the advice and suggestions 
of his party friends concerning the shaping of his course. Through all the en- 
thusiasm and ceremonial of the inauguration there was still the same calm, 
intellectual poise, the same perfect self-control and mastery. The glories of the 
present were brilliant and attractive enough, but to him the future brought a 
sobering, saddening prospect. "Four years hence," said he, "I shall leave the 
presidency, still a young man, but with no future before me, to become a poli- 
tical reminiscence — a squeezed lemon, to be thrown away." 

Probably no administration ever opened its existence under brighter auspices 
than that of President Garfield, but it was not long before his great vitality 
showed visible signs of yielding to the dragging wear of the never-ending de- 
mands and importunities for place. Each day brought its exhausting physical 
fatigue and intellectual weariness — the result of a continual din of selfish talk. 
Fairly staggering into the library at the close of a specially exhausting day, he 
once said: "I cannot endure this much longer; no man, who has passed his 



128 NOBLE AND HEROIC DEEDS. 

prime, can succeed me here, to wrestle with the people as I have done, without 
its killing him." The president was scarcely free from the anxiety of his moth- 
er's illness in the late spring, before she, whose light and comfort had done more 
to make his life happy than all his achievements and triumphs, was prostrated 
by a dangerous illness. Dividing his time between the cares of his office and 
her chamber, he gave her that devotion which was to be so soon, so amply and 
so heroically repaid. With the startling events of the fateful 2nd of July, and 
the incidents of the memorable eighty days, the reader is almost as familiar as if 
he had stood in the place of those whose privilege it was to minister to him. It 
has been remarked that the president scarcely referred to his assassin. He 
seems to have foreshadowed his feelings in one of his little speeches during the 
campaign, in which he said: "If a man murders you without provocation, your 
soul bears no burden of the wrong, but all the angels of the universe will weep 
for the misguided man who committed the murder. ,, When Mrs. Garfield thinks 
of the seriousness with which he would send her away from him, when he would 
say, "Yes, go and ride; I want you to ; " "You must go to bed now; I can't let 
you sit up any longer," or " Go down to the table ; you must preside there," she 
wonders that she dared to leave him, even for a moment, yet his gentle firmness 
compelled obedience and went far to encourage the hope in which she lived. 
Even that first night, when he said to her, "Go, now, and rest; I shall want you 
near me when the crisis comes," she did not, or would not, think that he referred 
to his death, although she afterward knew he did. The tenderness with which 
he withheld from her what she now believes he felt would be his fate, deluges 
her heart with tears. 

Thus Garfield lived. To moralize on the life and works of this grand 
American would be superfluous. He has furnished to the people of the 
United States one of the brightest and noblest examples of American citi- 
zenship. Both in public life and private life he has contributed to the annals of 
our times a record unsullied as the azure sky. His steps were the steps of a 
pure man climbing up to greatness. His ambitions were chastened, his aspira- 
tions the aspirations of a patriot. Over his great talents was shed the luster of 
noble activities, and his path was illumined with something of the effulgence of 
genius. His integrity was spotless, his virtue white as the snow. Of all our 
public men of recent times, Garfield was, in a certain sense, the most American. 
He had suffered all the hardships of the common lot. He had known poverty 
and orphanage and toil. To himself he owed, in a pre-eminent degree, his vic- 
tory over adversity and his rise to distinction. He carried into public life, even 
to the highest seat of honor, the plainness and simplicity of a man of the people. 
Ostentation was no part of his nature, and subtlety found no place in his prac- 
tices. In an age of venality and corruption — the very draff and ebb of the civil 
war — he stood unscathed. He went up to his high seat and down to the doorway 
of the grave without the scent of fire on his garments. His name smells sweet 
in all lands under the circle of the sun, and his fame is a priceless legacy which 
posterity will not willingly let die. 



FRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY 

We have made annulments witu the publishers whereby we are enabled to otter the 

following books of ihe Franklin Square Library to our readers: fi^We will serd any 

Ti-.N BOOKS described I elow, by mail, post-paid to any address, on receipt of 0>i: 

DOLLAR ; and lor Twenty-Five Cents extra, sent at the same time, will include one year's 

viibsciiptiou to Farm arid Fireside, the leading Agricultural and Home Journal of 

the work'. 'Ihe list is as follows: 

Book No. 311. Life of James A. Garfield. By Edmund Kirke. A truthful record of the life 
of our late president, contains a number of illustrations. 

Book No. 312. Social Etiquette. A universal band-Look of social etiquette and home culture 
for ladies and gentlemen. 

Book No. 314. Selected Poems of Matthew Arnold. This volume contains a large number 
of tbe most popular poems of this eminent poet. 

Book No. 315. Sport and Work on <he Nepaul Frontier- or, Twelve Years' Sporting Rem- 
iniscences of an Indigo Planter. The novelty of the author's daring adventures cannot fail 
to win attention. 

Book No. 317. His Little Mother. By author of "John Halifax." A very interesting little 
s'ory of a twin brother and sister, told in the author's peculiar, br.lli; nt and spirited style. 
This volume contains seven other stories of equal interest, suited to all tas es. 

Book No. 318. My Heart's in the Highlands. A novel justly praised lor the originality 
and the dramatic interest of its plot. 

Book No. 319. The Fugitives. By Mrs. Oliphant. The felicity of expression and aptitude 
for sory-telling by tuis author is remaikai le, and thereadtr will find a number of those 
suggestive hints and unobtrusive charms which show the hand of a true artist. 

Book No. 320. An Eye for an Eye. By Anthony Trollope. This well-known author wields 
a vigorous pen, and in this book there are evidences of unusual intellectual power. 

Book No. 321. Orange Lily. By Mary Crommelin. A very entertaining love story, the scene 
of wheh is in Scotland, and it is a story of Lily, whose solt temper fitted to everybody el^^ 
shape of mind, and when a girl, was, from her curiou^y smiling, little, freckled face and 
reddish pate— neatlv combed and thick— dubbed Orange Lily. 

Book No. 322. Cousin Simon. A Novel. By the Hon. Mrs. Robert Marsham. This book is a 
remarkably interesting work, being full of pleasing incidents, and is sufficiently exciting to 
hold the attention of the most exacting novel readers. 

Book No. 323. The Heart of Holland. By Henry Harvard. Translated by Mrs. Cashel 
Hoey. A his'ory of Holland. It is very interesting throughout as well as instructive, and 
should be read by both old and young. 

Book No. 324. The History of a Crime. By Victor Hugo. A very remarkable book, and 
readers will linger with devotion over the fascinating pages of a History of a Crime— being 
the testimony of an eye witness who, with other Frenchmen, was exiled, and who becomes 
a historian, reciting the events of the past, abounding in details, and living, it might be said 
bleeding, with real facts. 

Book No. 325. Cross Purposes. A Novel. By Cecilia Findlay. This work is a bright and 
fascinating novel, written in an animated and unaffected style. The work is attractive for 
its freshness, and pleases the reader by its sweet naturalness of feeling and its quiet path( s. 

Book No. 326. Light and Shade. A Novel. By Charlotte G. O'Brien. This very clever and 
interesting story, wbich begins in the autumn befoie the Fenian rising of 1867, gives a won- 
derful account of life in Ireland at that time, with every phat-e of which the writer appears' 
to be. thoroughly familiar. 

Book No, 327. Eothen ; or, Traces of Travel Brought Home from the East. By Alexander 
YV. Kinglake. A sketch of a tour through ti.e Ecist, told in a very comprehensive and 
graphic manner. His wonderlul descriptions of travel at the Pass of the Lebanon, at 
Damascus, from Cairo to Suez, exploring the pyramids, and at the Dead Sea, should be read 
by everybody. The spirit and enthusiasm with which Mr. Kinglake writes his travels 
makes it so absorbingly interesting that it is almost impossible to lay the book down. 

Book No. 328. The Bachelor of the Albany. A Novel. A very interesting w(rk and bears 
many marks of unusual talent. A more thorough realistic sketch of character has not been 
given to the public for some time, and it may be read with decided pleasure. 

Book No. 329. The Posy Ring. A Novel. By Mrs. Alfred W. Hunt. Very bright and fas- 
cinating, as can be judged from a short quotation ; " Lucy's three months of travel was all 
but over. On the 15th she was to return to London and Aunt Esther. Her visit had been 
a very happy one — a very gay one, too, — and even yet thegayety was not quite at an end, ft r 
this very night there was to be a large ball at Hazlewood. Robert Merivale was coming to it." 

Book Mo. 330. Lil, Fair, Fair, with Golden Hair. By Hon. Mrs. Featherstonhaugh. An 
entertaining story of Fair Lil, of whom " every soul in the glen speaks well, and there's not 
a cabin on the mountain-side, or even a beggar by the way, that doesn't know her, though 
we may not ; so I think the sooner we make her acquaintance perhaps the better for us." 

Book No. 331. The Farmer's Dai:phters. A delightful story of a farmer's two daughters, 
of whom the hero observed upon introduction that " he liked the two girls immediately, 
for, while Carrie won his respect by her quiet, lady-like demeanor, Nell amused him with 
her quaint ways." 

MONEY should be sent by Post-office Money Order or Registered Letter, addressed to 

FARM AND FIRES IDE COMPANY, Springfield, Ohio, 



4~ 



By subscribing to the Farm and Fireside Library you can obtain 

I TO 3 DOLLAR BOOKS FOR 25 GENTS EACH. 

TEEMS OF SUBSCRIPTION TO THE FARM AND FIRESIDE LIBRARY: 
One Year, twenty-four numbers, - $3.00. 

Single Copy, -.----.25 Cents. 

Invariably in Advance. 

The books described below will be am ng the firsi published in the Farm and Fireside ♦ 
Library series. 4> 

FOB 25 CENT3, A COPY OF ANY BOOK IN THIS LIST WILL BE SENT BY MAU* POSTPAID. 
Orders taken now, and books mailed as soon as published. 

Book No. I. Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. This well-known book may be ^> 
ranked as the most popular standard juvenile book ever printed. Our edition is complete ^> 
in one vol. Fully illustrated. a 

Book No. 2. The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come. This re- I 
markable book, as every one knows, was written under the similitude of a dream, by John I 
Bunyan, the most popular religious writer in the English language ; and perhaps more T 
copies have been sold than any other book except the Bible. Our edition is complete and 
unabridged, with appropriate illustrations. 

Book No. 3. Ne* Farm and Fireside Cook Book. ONE OF THE BEST COOK BOOKS 
EVER PUBLISHED. Contains about 1.0U0 Keoipes. It is just the book that every wile and 
housekeener needs. It tells how to cook all kinds of bread, cakes, and meats : it tells how 
to make all kinds of soup; it gives recipes for cooking fish, oysters, poultry and game; it 
tells how to select the best poultry, fish, meats, etc.; it gives the best methods of preparing 
sauces and salads and all kinds of vegetables for the table; and tells the housekeeper all 
she needs to know about bread, biscuits, rolls, puddings, pies, custards, creams, cookies, tea, 
coffee, chocolate, home-made candies, antidote for poison, cooking for the sick, and many 
other useful things. $■ 

Book No- 4. Saved at Last from Among the Mormons. Every man and woman in the 4 
land should read this story, which is founded upon facts, and gives an insight into the low 

(estate of woman under the* Mormon rule. 
Book No. 5. Gulliver's Travels. This book tells of the supposed travels and surprising 
adventures of Lemuel Gulliver into several remote regions of the world, where he met with 
a race of people no larger than your hand. Also his wonderful exploits among giants. Com- 
plete in one volume. Finely illustrated. 
a, Book No. 6. Bread and Cheese and Kisses. By B. L. Farjeon. A very popular Christmas 
T story after the style of Dickens; abounds in excellent and novel features. Complete in one 
T volume, with illustrations. 

T Book No. 7. The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Illustrated with numerous wood en- 
gravings, descriptive of those many strange and singular stories which the legend says the 
T Sultaness of Persia related to the Sultan night after night, in order to prolong her life, and 
T thus finally won his affections and delivered the many virgins, who but for her would 
T have been sacrificed to his unjust resentment. 

t Book No. 8. /Esops's Fable3. The Fables of iEso pus, an apt representative of the great social 
f and intellectual movement of the age which he adorned. Born a slave, he forced his 

► way by his mother-wit into the courts of princes. In one vol. Very profusely illustrated. 

► Book No. 9. John Ploughman's Pictures; or, More of his Plain Talk for Plain People, by 

► Bev. Chas. H. Spurgeon. This book is exceedingly humorous and instructive, using the 
^ simplest form of words and very plain speech. To smite evil, and especially the monster 

► evil of drink, has been the author's earnest endeavor. Complete in one volume— contain- 
^ ing a great number of pictures. 

^ Book No. 10. Noble Deeds of Men and Women. A history and description of noble deeds, 
a. presenting correct and beautiful models of noble life to awaken the impulse to imitate what 
<t , we admire. By the recorded acts of the great and good we regulate our own course, and 

stesr, star-guided, over life's trackless ocean. 

The usu-il price of these books bound in cloth is $1 00 to $3.00 each. We bind them in heavy 
paper, and send them by mail and prepay the postage. They comprise a wide range and 
<„ striking diversity of the most brilliant and pleasing productions of the most noted and 
<> popular authors, and include books of travels, adventures, fiction and humor, so that all 
tastes will be suite 1. We call it the Farm and Fireside Library, and any one obtaining 
these books will possess a library of the most popular books ever published. We have not 
room to give an exteded description of each book, but all will be delighted who obtain these 
noted books at so ow a price. 
THE BOOKS are the latest and most complete editions, and contain many illustrations 

one alone- requiring fifty pictures to complete it. 
MONEY should be sent by Post-office Money Order or Registered Letter, addressed to 

FARM AND FIRESIDE COMPANY, Springfield, Ohio. 



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